Sickeningly Selfless Life and Times of Me
by QuinnDeRavensborough
Summary: Ever wondered about what Abnegation initiation must be like? Ever imagine what it must be like to transfer to Abnegation? This is the story of Geb, an Amity-born transfer to the selfless faction. Will his new lifestyle be as dull and lonely as he fears? Or is their more to the Abnegationers than meets the eye? Eventual FourTris!
1. Chapter 1

**Tell me what all-y'all readers think of this story! Any ideas are welcome. Should Geb turn out to be a total bull in a china shop for Abnegation? Should I bring Beatrice and Caleb and Robert and Susan into the story? Would you-all like there to be more insight into Elgobelia and Olgaba's homelife? **

The other evening, after pondering worriedly over the results from my Aptitude Test, I spoke with my mentor Fay. She listened to my troubles that other evening, as she normally did. It was easy to speak to her, for she was patient, though it wasn't always easy to listen to her, for she always gave an honest and true answer.

"Would it be selfish of me to transfer to another faction?" I asked. "Would it put my family into the worst distress?"

"The question isn't what your family would think," Fay answered, running her gnarled fingers through her whitened hair. "The question is what you will think, whether or not you can tolerate living with yourself after the Choosing."

"I… don't know. It's almost as if I know which faction God wants me to transfer to, but, at the same time, the thought of transferring is almost putrid in my mouth."

Now, the cardiac muscle within my chest was pumping rapidly, as if it would burst any second, the memory of the other evening haunting me. It was so hard to believe the I actually placed my blood over the Abnegation stones for Choosing Day. It was like both a dream-come-true and a nightmare, all rolled into one. I was happy, yet I was distressed. I was going to find a fulfilling life in Abnegation, but was leaving a comfortable life in Amity.

Only a few Amity-born transferred factions this year. Other than me, there's Daisy, Forrest, and Raindrop. Oh, wait. Lennon transferred, too. It's so easy to forget him, as he's such a reclusive fellow. Anyway, that being said, most other Amity-born initiates decided to stay within Amity.

It was a heartless thing of me to leave my poor mother and dear siblings. Still, the odds of total contentment within the family was best if I transferred to the faction where I would be of most use. I would not have been content staying in Amity, so it would have been hard for her to witness my unfulfilled life.

After everyone was done choosing at Choosing Day, I waited with all of the other Abnegation initiates for the other factions to leave the building. Then, when everyone else had left, we all walked towards the direction of the stairs, and made our descent, like a mass of grey-garbed (well, I was in bright colors, of course) amoebae on its way to eat a paramecium.

Us initiates all walked to Abnegation headquarters, a hideous grey building on a beat-up street with a stoplight dangling from a frayed wire. The woman leading the initiates led us into the headquarters and into a room which resembled a gathering hall or sanctuary. We were instructed to sit down on these long benches called "pews".

Standing in front of us were several men and women. One of the men, a rather sly-looking individual whom I took an instant disliking to, started to speak.

"Welcome, initiates," he said in a soft voice. "You are now on your way to entering the Abnegation community as selfless, self-reliant adults. As initiates, you will be given many opportunities to serve others, including many volunteer activities and experiences in which soul-searching will be possible. As we all well know, the reason you are here today is because, above all else, you believe there's no better way to find yourself than by helping others."

The man talked on for a little while.

Finally, he said, "All Abnegation-born initiates, please stand up and follow John."

The Abnegation-born followed John outside of the building, leaving me sitting alone on the pew.

The woman who'd originally led the initiates from the Ceremony to Abnegation headquarters walked towards me. I stood up, keeping my head down due to a sudden shyness.

"Come with me," she said. "You need to be fitted for initiation. We can't let you draw attention, can we?"

She led me out of the large room, down a hall, and into another large room which was filled with boxes.

"What size do you wear?" she asked me.

"Um… I don't know," I replied. Back in Amity, everyone made their own clothes from fabric made by the cotton farms grown all around.

"You look like you could fit into a medium…" She walked over to a large stack of boxes.

I helped her bring down a big one off the top.

"Who was that man talking in there?" I asked, suddenly feeling curious. "You know, the one talking about what initiation has in store, and stuff like that?"

"Oh, that was Marcus Eaton," the woman replied. "He's one of Abnegation's most influential leaders."

"You talk as if you know him."

"I do know him. He sometimes comes over for dinner, since he and my husband are co-workers."

"Co-workers?" I realized how rude that sounded. "I mean to say, leaders don't sound like they would be 'co-workers'."

The woman smiled, and said, "Humility is a sign of selflessness, and it helps one realize that all are equal, no matter what leadership position is being used. Now, I'll leave this room. Come out once you've changed into these clothes. Bring out your old ones- they'll be given to the factionless."

After changing, I walked out into the hallway.

"Now you should draw less attention," she said, smiling. Normally, if someone had made that comment to somebody, it would have seemed callous and cruel. But this woman obviously genuinely cared, so there was no reason for me to take offense in it.

The woman frowned, though.

"We'll have to do something about your hair, though," she said. "It's rather long. When you get to the dorm house, though, John will teach you how to cut it by yourself."

I ran a hand through my thick, black hair. It would certainly feel funny with it buzzed short…

"I know the names of all the other initiates," the woman said. "What's yours?"

I answered, "My name's Geb Whiteeagle. What's yours?"

"My name's Natalie Prior. Come along, Geb. We have to get you to the dorm house."

The initiate dorm house was about half a mile from the headquarters. On the way there, Natalie gave me a handful of instructions. It would have felt awkward, like I'd been somewhat singled out from the rest of the group, if she hadn't spoken so gently and kindly.

"Remember Geb," she said, "you haven't been raised in Abnegation like the rest of your fellow initiates. It might be harder for you to appear selfless like them, due to your upbringing. That being said, you'll do fine, and, if you truly have a caring heart, selflessness will stick to you. You will pass initiation, and be a helpful addition to our community."

"But what if I mess up terribly?" I inquired. "What if I draw too much attention to myself, or do something extremely selfish, or…"

"Ssshhh…" Natalie hushed me calmly. "You will do fine. No arguing, lest you say a self-fulfilling prophecy. Cursing yourself won't be a good incentive to try harder."

"Okay…"

"Now, remember, don't ask too many questions about people's personal lives. On one hand, it's polite as well as a way to abstain from talking about yourself too much in conversation. On the other hand, though, giving in to too much curiosity is self-indulgence."

I thought for a moment, then said, "Speaking of not asking too many personal questions, and not giving personal answers, I've heard rumors that Abnegationers are lonely people, that their relationships are fake and unfulfilled. Is that true?"

Natalie chuckled.

"Isn't every community full of lonely people?" she asked. "Some blame it on technology, others blame it on poor communication. Many simply blame it on cruel ostracism. Whatever the reason, don't let your selflessness be your emotional death. You will know functional relationships once you fall within selfless, loving, and compassionate harmony with those you live with."

She talked on for a little while. Bit by bit, the anxiety I had been feeling left. I would fit in with the other Abnegationers, I would live a selfless, productive life, and I would not fail this frightening initiation process before me.

Upon reaching the dorm house, Natalie led me in. It was an ugly grey building that was two stories high.

She explained, "The bottom story has the kitchen and living areas. The top story is where the bedrooms are."

Sitting in what appeared to be the parlor were the rest of the initiates, fourteen in all. They all had their attention turned to John, who was speaking passionately about who-knows-what. They turned their gaze to me, though, when I walked in. Natalie patted my shoulder, and left.

I felt myself cringe. I hated to be stared at by tons of people. It felt as if a thousand lasers were directed at me, ready to go off and send me to my grave, like a machine gun sniper thingy from Erudite's wicked lair.

"Have a seat," John said, smiling.

I took an empty seat on one of the sofas, next to a shy-looking girl. She looked so pitiful, with large grey eyes, like a chihuahua wanting to eat your dinner. Her dark brown hair was put up in a bun, like a lot of the other Abnegation females. I wondered, _Do they wear their hair in any other way? _

"As I was saying," John continued, "you have an exciting life ahead of you. Think of all the possibilities that start today, all the things you're about to learn and use to benefit everyone around you. This initiation is not here just so you can become adults, it's so you can have a power to bless and help others and learn how to be true servant leaders in our broken society."

He smiled at all of us.

"It's almost time for dinner," he said. "All the food you'll need will be in the kitchen. Sadly, I can't share your first meal as initiates with you tonight, because I've got an important meeting. You're all mature and can take care of yourselves, I assume, so you won't miss me for the time being. I'll be back with Cindy, tonight; even though I'm one of your supervisors, she's the one who knows what to do if one of you decides to go pyro. Ta-ta!"

John left the dorm house.

There was an awkward silence among everyone. Then, all of a sudden, everybody went into the kitchen to either start cooking or set the table.

Everybody, that is, except the girl sitting next to me.

Standing up, I asked, "Why aren't you going into the kitchen?"

"It's so crowded in there, I'll only be in the way," the girl replied. She then stood up. "The beds aren't set, though. We should get those ready."

We both walked up the stairs. In the hallway, there was a closet full of linens and blankets. She prepared the beds in the girls' room, I prepared the beds in the guys' room.

When we met up again in the hallway, our task being done, I commented, "The rooms look rather drab- there are no pictures on those really white walls."

The girl shrugged.

"That's the only way I've ever seen bedrooms done," she said. "You're from Amity, so I can only assume rooms would be done more flamboyantly."

"Um…" I didn't know whether or not to be offended. "_Flamboyance _isn't necessarily how one could describe Amity. Actually, I don't think you could describe any of the factions as flamboyant. They're all more like five separate cults to choose from."

The girl laughed.

"What's your name?"

"Geb Whiteeagle."

"White Eagle? Interesting. My name is Sarah Robinson. Pleasure to meet you."

I couldn't help but smile. Despite my initial impression that she was shy, there was a directness about her that was amusing. It was almost as if she was a polite Candor person, which seems like an oxymoron.

"Let's go downstairs," I suggested.

Downstairs, the food was almost ready. Almost everyone was sitting around the long table, waiting, girls on one side and guys on the other. No one sat at the table's foot or head- I assumed those were reserved for John and Cindy. Sarah walked over and sat down in an empty chair in the middle of the girls' side.

"Geb," she said, indicating the girl next to her, "this here is my bestest friend, Rebekah."

Rebekah, smiling, said, "We've known each other for forever! Actually, all of us here have known each other for forever. Everybody, I suggest we all tell the new fellow our names, so he can be acquainted."

Everybody said their names. The girls started first; their names were Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Leah, Jael, Deborah, and Dorcas. The guys then said their names, which were Eliab, Abinadab, Shimea, Nethanel, Raddai, Ozem, and David.

Once the food was ready and set on the table, we all held hands and prayed. We then ate.

Eating Abnegation food for the first time was rather strange. It was nutritious- a brothy vegetable soup, with whole grain bread and a salad. On the other hand, though, it was rather tasteless. The broth had no seasonings, the bread had no butter, and the salad had no dressing or cheese.

Rachel must have noticed the expression on my face.

Chuckling softly, she said, "You look so confused, like you expect it to be tasty but are suddenly surprised by its blandness."

I laughed back.

"You are correct at that," I said.

"Get used to this food," Raddai said, grinning. "You'll be having stuff like this _everyday _for the rest of your whole entire life."

Suddenly, Leah interjected, "Eliab! Why are you still wearing Matthew's watch?!"

Eliab replied, "I was gonna give it back to him, but he transferred today, so I guess I never will…"

Ozem said, "Unless he commits apostasy within his new faction, he'll still come to Abnegation every Saturday. I mean, there is only one synagogue in the entire city. You can give it to him then."

Jael said, "It's so weird; to think that an Abnegationer would want to leave! Still, poor Matthew never fit in here…"

I thought about fitting myself fitting in only partway in Amity, and the desire to find a place where I would be a good addition. My sister Delilah had been the same way, when she transferred to Candor last year. Last I'd heard from my trusty sources, she'd changed her name to Ella, and was working with simulations for initiates this year. I hoped she was happy. Maybe she'd meet this Matthew guy, whoever he is.

After dinner, everyone cleaned up with each other. I started washing dishes, dipping them in soapy water. Deborah dried them, and Shimea put them away.

Afterwards, we all went into the parlor, and sat down.

Sarah and Rebekah sat on either side of me on one of the sofas.

"You know," Rebekah said, "I always loved hearing the Amity kids at school sing songs. Could you sing one, Geb?"

"No!" I replied quickly. _I don't want to be the center of attention! Singing will draw stares and cause people to go quiet! _"I mean… Wouldn't singing be self-indulgent?"

"Not if everyone wants you to do so," Sarah said. "If we're allowed to carry on leisureful conversations, wouldn't we be allowed to take turns singing? That is, if we all knew how to sing…"

"Please sing a song, Geb!" Raddai said.

I cleared my throat, then sang a song, the chorus which went something like this:

"_Come running home now, Katie,_

_come running home again._

_Cross my heart_

_and hope to die,_

_lest I draw another tear from your eye._"

"That's so beautiful," Rebekah said. "It sounds just like talking, except it flows so gracefully."

I instantly felt guilty. My first day in Abnegation, and I'd drawn _far _too much attention to myself.

"No more songs!" I exclaimed. "It's so… so… self-indulgent!"

Conversation went on after that. It was pleasant- barely anybody interrupted each other, everyone quietly listening to what everyone had to say. The organization wasn't what appealed to me; what I truly loved was the complete mutual respect shown. It reminded me of what Natalie had said about harmony with those you live with.

John and Cindy arrived just as we were all about to get ready for bed.

Cindy inquired, "Did you all get enough to eat?"

"You shouldn't worry so much about us," Ozem said, smiling. "Of course we ate enough!"

"I just don't want you-all to be going hungry," she said. "Also, be sure to tell me if the blankets aren't warm enough. I can go get more if necessary."

She then looked at Dorcas.

"Do you have your medication with you?" she asked.

"John said he'd get it," Dorcas replied.

"As I did." John smiled, pulling a medicine bottle out of his coat pocket, tossing it to Dorcas. "We can't have you falling into a seizure, can we now?"

Cindy then looked straight at me.

"How've they been treating you?" she inquired. "One year, there was a transfer from Erudite, and it took a while for the other initiates to accept him."

It felt kind of humiliating to be looked after in this way- I mean, it's not like I'm a kindergartener whom the other kids won't play with. Still, like Natalie and John, it was obvious that Cindy cared.

"Don't worry," Sarah said. "We already love him to pieces. He fits in here like none other."

Cindy scowled.

"We're gonna have to do something about your hair…" she mused. "Also, I don't quite think I got your name. What is it?"

"Geb," I said. _Wow! I've certainly had to say my name a bajillion times today…_

"A plain, down-to-earth name. Sorry if this seems jerkish, but if you'd had one of those flamboyant Amity names, I might have asked you to change it to something less distracting."

She smiled, as if concerned that she'd intimidated me.

"No pressure," she added.

After going to bed, after all the lights in the dorm house turned off, I lay awake, staring at the ceiling. I thought about my destiny, about my new life, my new faction. Had I chosen the right future for myself? Or, had I prepared myself for utter disaster?

_Dearest Lord, _I prayed, _You alone know what this all will bring upon me. I trust that my future is in Your hands. _

Sometime during that long night, I fell asleep.

**I hope you found this chapter interesting! Review, please, if you want me to continue with the story! Now that my *Pelo en la Sopa* story is done, I'll do this story along with my Candor initiation one. :)**


	2. Chapter 2: Sunrise, Sunset

**Thanks to all-y'all for the reviews, especially to Dances With Vampires (now *that* is what a real review looks like)! Please keep on reviewing, with suggestions, criticisms, complaints, praises, French fries, whatever! :)**

"Wake up!"

Someone was shaking me, and talking rather loudly.

"Go away…" I muttered. "It's too early…"

Opening my eyes, I was Shimea standing at the bedside.

"It's our first day of initiate training," he said. "You don't wanna be late, do you?"

"What time is it?"

"Seven o' clock. Isn't it nice? One of the perks of being almost grown-up is that you can sleep in an extra hour. No school to worry about!"

Sitting up, I asked, "So, how much later have I gotten up than everyone else?"

"A minute or so later." Shimea shrugged.

I groaned.

"You made it seem like everyone else was ready to go out the door!"

Shimea laughed, saying, "There's no need to shout!"

Downstairs, everyone ate their porridge in thoughtful silence, until Cindy cleared her throat. Everyone looked up from their bowls, all attention turned towards our instructor.

"Today is a special day," she said. "As you all know, these next few weeks you will be doing community service, and the first day of Abnegation training is normally kicked off with a bang. This fine morning, you will be feeding the factionless."

I felt a shiver go up my spine. Feed the factionless? But, weren't those people too delinquent and harmful to fit in with society? At least, that's how everyone at Amity thinks of them, believing that nobody would so harsh as to kick someone out of their faction unless that someone was dangerous.

As if reading my thoughts, John said, "Remember, the factionless are people, also. Most are not factionless by choice, and they are like you and me. The only difference is that they live in poverty, while we live within the care and safety of our community."

So… some factions truly were cruel enough to kick people out? Must be those Dauntlesses and those Erudites. It seems like something they would do. I can inquire about it later with someone who knows more on the subject.

We were led to and left at a warehouse (but, then again, all of the buildings in Abnegation look like warehouses). Inside was more food and clothing, in boxes and stacks, than I had ever seen. Standing in front of of a bunch of food baskets was Natalie. She was with two other women.

"Good day, initiates," she said, smiling. "I hope you're having a great day so far."

"Cut them some slack, Natalie!" one of the women, a stern-countenanced, somber-looking lady, said. "The day has barely begun. How could they be having a good one? You'll just freak their brains out of their guts!"

"I said 'so far', Elgobelia," Natalie replied. "It's polite, that's all. Anyway, initiates, Olgaba and Elgobelia will be handing out these baskets to you, and will be instructing you on how much of each item in the baskets to give to each person. Now, I'd better get going..."

"It'll be individual instructions," the other woman, a gleeful-looking lady, obviously Olgaba, said. "Each of the baskets has different food items. A couple of you will be giving out clothing items, also."

"No need to bore them with stuff they'll already figure out soon enough," Elgobelia muttered.

"Oh, you're so cranky all the time!" Olgaba chuckled. "Anyway, initiates- my word! you're all such dears!- stand in a line, and we'll hand you the baskets, and give you the instructions."

"Redundancy!" Elgobelia exclaimed.

Olgaba frowned slightly.

"Do you need to go home?" she asked. "I can handle everything on my own, if necessary."

Elgobelia shrugged, then said, "We'll see. Maybe in an hour I'll be sure."

Standing in line, Sarah whispered to me, "Olgaba and Elgobelia are Matthew's parents. Olgaba's good at keeping her cool, but I think Elgobelia's all shook up about losing a child…"

"But it was mentioned yesternight that there's only one synagogue in town," I whispered back. "Wouldn't that imply that they'll see him every week?"

"It's still hard for any parent when their kids grow up. I mean, I remember when my sister became an initiate- she didn't even transfer, but my parents were down in the dumps for so long."

"Wouldn't that be considered-"

Elgobelia handed a basket of apples to Sarah.

"No whispering," she commanded.

She walked over to the stack of baskets, picked up one full of soup cans, then handed it to me.

"You, Geb kid! Your hair is almost as unruly as my son's! Hope you can blend in within the Abnegation collective. It'd be a shame for you to not pass initiation and end up as one of those factionless people I help feed almost everyday."

"Tsk-tsk!" Olgaba clucked her tongue. "Elggy, don't scare him! Now, Sarah, give each person one apple. Seriously, those things are too stinkin' heavy and awkward to take more than one. Speaking of heavy, Geb, each person will get one can of soup. If only they were like socks- each person gets two pairs of those… or is it just two of those? I dunno. I'll have to memorize that inventory list."

It felt weird walking through the factionless section of the city. All of the houses and buildings looked worn down, and there was garbage in the streets. People were lurking in the shadows, like zombies in a horror story. They looked exactly how the Amity elders described zombies: Emaciated, grubbily dressed, with unkempt hair and lifelessly-colored skin.

The factionless formed a line.

"Form in a line, initiates!" Olgaba said.

Upon further instruction, us initiates formed a line, distributing what was in our baskets as we walked along the line of factionless. There were factionless of all ages to feed- factionless elders to remind us that some people live in poverty all their lives, and factionless children to remind us that some people are born into poverty without a choice.

One of the factionless looked straight at me when I handed her a can of soup. Her pitiful eyes reminded me of my father's, so empty and dead, void of existence. Her lip quivered, as she tried to speak through yellow, worn teeth.

"Please," she said, "could I get an extra can? Someone I know wasn't able to make it here today…"

I looked over at Elgobelia, who was leaning over my shoulder.

"Should I give her an extra?" I asked.

"She's most likely lying," Elgobelia replied. "But, there are less people lined up than we were expecting. We can spare one can."

After I handed her the extra can, the factionless woman muttered under her breath, "Evelyn will sure love this flavor…"

Elgobelia cleared her throat and raised her eyebrows at the factionless woman, putting a finger to her lips.

"Be cautious as to whose name slips from your lips," she whispered.

"Who's Evelyn?" I asked.

"Now look what you did!" Elgobelia scolded the woman, who shrank back in shame.

Us initiates went from neighborhood to neighborhood in the factionless community. Most neighborhoods were orderly, with people standing in lines. Other neighborhoods, though, didn't seem to know what a line was, and just walked up to whichever basket had what they wanted. The factionless, though, to be perfectly honest, seemed like a thankful and friendly group of people.

After feeding the factionless was lunchtime. Olgaba and Elgobelia led us initiates to an ugly grey house (What? You thought this one was gonna be pretty and brightly colored? Puh-leaze!). Standing on the house's stoop was Natalie, smiling at all of us.

"How was feeding the factionless?" she inquired.

"I loved it!" Rebekah said. "Those people looked so happy to be receiving food!"

Everyone else murmured in agreement.

"Come inside," Natalie said. "Lunch is on me today."

Following her into the house, we all saw that her table was set, and so were a couple of blankets on the floor. I guessed that it wasn't normal for her to give hospitality to a ton of people.

"I wanna sit on the floor!" hollered Olgaba.

"Sitting on that thing?" Elgobelia raised an eyebrow. "It'll give you a backache!"

Sarah said, "Wanna sit with Rebekah and me, Geb?"

She and Rebekah had plopped themselves down next to Olgaba.

"Why would he want to sit on that hard floor?" Elgobelia asked.

"Because I come from Amity," I replied, as I sat crosslegged. "I've sat on floors, dirt, grass, roofs, tree branches…"

"Then we should call you Dirty Butt," Shimea said, sitting next to me.

"If John and Cindy were here, they'd be appalled you'd say something like that," Rebekah said.

I couldn't help but giggle gleefully.

"Are all Abnegationers this unreserved?" I inquired.

Elgobelia, who had already sat at the table, hollered, "Goodness, you Geb kid! Have you even seen Marcus and Andrew? They're so strict and quiet- it's like they have something to prove!"

Natalie raised an eyebrow at Elgobelia.

"What? You mad I bad-talked your hubby?"

Natalie sighed, then confessed, "I wish Andrew wouldn't be so rigid; if only he knew how to have fun…"

It became apparent that some members of Abnegation gave it its stereotype. And to think Shimea had told me just today in passing that Abnegationers only act like legalistic no-nonsense folk when outside of their community… Some stereotypes definitely turned out to be true. My fellow initiates spoke rather quietly, though the same could be said about my old neighbors back in Amity. And, even though we were guests, we all helped Natalie clean up afterwards. (I caught myself dusting her furniture, which felt like overkill, until I noticed Jael scrubbing the floor; most just helped her clean dishes and put away leftovers, though).

Just as all of us initiates were about to leave, a girl and guy about our age walked through the front door.

"Wait? Aren't you…" Natalie started to say. "I forgot! Today was a half day at school… Happens every year."

I guessed that the girl and guy were Natalie's children.

"Hey, Beatrice!" Abinadab said, waving.

The girl, Beatrice, looked somewhat irritated.

"Hello, Abinadab," she muttered.

"Beatrice…" the guy whispered in a disapproving tone.

"Caleb, I'll handle this," Natalie said. "Beatrice, smile and be cordial. You know all of the initiates."

Beatrice gazed at all of us.

"Not that one," she said, nodding towards me. "What's your name again? Jed?"

"Geb," I replied. _Wow, _I thought. _She sure looks like she's had a bad day. I mean, there's red around her eyes, like she cried, or something, and the way she's slouching… _"You should eat some chocolates, or something. You look like you could really use some."

"What are chocolates?" Beatrice looked confused.

"Um… They come from a bean. They taste really good, and help you feel better when you're upset, and…" I realized I had said far too much. Maybe it would have been better if I hadn't verbally reacted to her defeated attitude.

"They sound like medicine." Beatrice grimaced. "Disgusting."

As us initiates left Natalie's house, I noticed both Beatrice and Caleb staring at me. The former was looking confused, as if I was some sort of enigma or something. The latter, though, was staring curiously, as if I'd said something weird.

_Drat! _I thought. _I'm being so stinkin' noticeable! _

Elgobelia and Olgaba led us initiates to another ugly grey building. It looked just like every other building in the Abnegation community. It was so thrilling to behold. Brought a tear to my eye.

Anyway, us initiates were left at that building, which turned out to be a giant cafeteria and kitchen. Standing in the middle of the kitchen was a short lady as wrinkled as a rotting orange. She studied all of us, as if assessing us in a judgmental manner.

"Okay, kiddos," she said. "We've got a dinner to prepare for all the single, lonely people in the area tonight."

Rebekah whispered to me, "This is a gathering place for single, lonely young people just starting out being grown-ups. Without this place, some of those folks would have no social life. It's interfactional, but don't tell Jeanine Matthews about it, or else she might spread more Hitleresque propaganda about our kind."

The old lady continued, "So, we gotta get started! I need half of you as cooks and the other half of you as place-setters."

Apparently, this old lady thought that guys couldn't cook. Therefore, all of the girls became the cooks, and all of the guys became the place-setters.

It took _hours _to cook all of the food and set all of the tables. By the time it was done, it was dinnertime. Young single people who lived either alone or with roommates started piling into the building like ants piling on a watermelon left on the sidewalk. There were folks of all factions, except Erudite, Candor, Amity, and Dauntless; therefore, it was practically just full of young Abnegationers. You know, I'm beginning to think that, since Abnegation isn't in charge of _The Nosies _newspaper, word about this place hasn't been able to spread. No wonder Jeanine Matthews hasn't bashed on it yet!

Back at the dorm house that night, all of us initiates were doggone tired. John and Cindy were on the sofa, talking about what to name the baby they were going to adopt. Apparently, it was going to have brown eyes and black hair as curly as curly can be. They were thinking it should be called Balaam or something like that.

"Get to bed," John said. "You'll have another really long day tomorrow."

As we climbed up the stairs, I noticed Rachel caught up so she could walk beside me.

"Hey," she said.

"Um… Hello?" I replied. _Why's she saying hi when we've been at the same places all day?_

"So… Are you gonna sing again tonight?"

"I can't. We have to go to bed."

"Oh. You have a good singing voice."

"In what world?"

Rachel looked confused. At this point, we'd reached the top of the stairs and were in the hallway where the doors to the bedrooms were. Everyone else had gone into the rooms.

"Do you seriously not like your singing voice?" she asked.

"It's as bad as my talking voice."

"But… I mean…"

She looked as worn out as could be. Her bun of curly hair was starting to sink down the back of her head (Would John and Cindy's baby have hair as curly as that?), and there were bags under her humongous brown eyes. She obviously wasn't thinking straight, and needed to get some sleep.

"Let's talk in the morning," I said. "I mean, you can't even get out a proper sentence! By tomorrow, you'll be able to think clearly."

Rachel nodded, though I could tell she didn't agree.

"Good night," I said.

I walked into the guys' bedroom.

"Ooh, Geb!" Nethanel said. "Hitting it off with Rachel!"

"What?" I was perplexed.

Ozem said, "You, Rachel, getting to know each other…"

"Huh? You aren't making any sense."

Shimea laughed, then said, "Can't you see, Geb? Rachel really fancies you."

"But she's only known me for two days." I thought the idea was very trivial. How could you feel such for an individual you barely met?

"I said 'fancies', not 'likes'," Shimea said.

"Well, it's still weird." I reached under the bed and grabbed my grey pajamas. "I don't know what's so fanciable about me, or anyone for that matter."

"If there's one person I fancy," Eliab said, "it's Beatrice."

"Beatrice is so gorgeous!" David said.

"She looks somewhat like a child," I said. "She's a tiny little person, that's what she is."

"Her neighbor Susan sure is fantastic, though," Raddai said. "Only problem, though, is I'm pretty sure she's taken, or, rather, she likes a guy already. People mention that whenever I talk about Susan and how fabulous she is..."

"Too bad," Ozem said. "Well, there are other girls out there. Let's just hope they don't prefer other guys compared to us. I don't want to be single for the rest of my life…"

"Why not?" I asked. If there's one thing I didn't understand, it's someone who felt like one of life's demands was to get married.

"I don't wanna be lonely," Ozem replied.

"But what if you have friends?" I inquired. "You won't be lonely if your life is full of friendship."

Shimea laughed, then said, "It's so good you came along, Geb. I thought I was the only sensible one here."

For the rest of initiation, every now and then, the other guys would jokingly call Shimea and me "the Bachelors". (They started with "the Confirmed Bachelors", until they learned that that wasn't necessarily polite or accurate). The girls never seemed to get the memo, but Rachel soon realized I wasn't interested in her.

Shimea's and my bed were next to each other's. In the dark, I could see his pale face as it looked straight at the ceiling, his eyes open and unblinking.

That night, I whispered to him, "You know, that's really creepy, you staring at the ceiling. I mean, I expect someone with peacefully closed eyes."

"Well, my eyes close eventually, I assume," he replied.

I thought about the many sets of eyes I'd seen today- the factionless woman's lifeless eyes, Beatrice's red and puffy eyes, Rachel's tired eyes. Now, I was seeing Shimea's total creeper I-look-asleep-and-awake-at-the-same-time eyes.

"You know what, Geb?"

"What?"

"I think tomorrow, if I have the time, I'll…" He yawned. "I think I'll… I don't remember what I wanna do tomorrow. Oh, well. I guess I'm just tired."

I felt sleep start to make my eyelids droop.

"I'm probably tired, also," I said. "Of course, I can't be as tired as you. I'm an expert at staying awake."

"Whatever."

"All right. I still like going to bed around nine o' clock in the evening. I could stay awake if I wanted to, though."

"We'll see about that. Good night, Geb."

"Good night, Shimea."

**What do you-all think? BroTP for Geb and Sarah, or Geb and Rebekah, or Geb and Shimea? Should Geb mention Delilah/Ella again? (I was thinking of doing it in this chapter, but decided not to; but, if you want any idea what she was like in Amity, I could shed some light on the subject). Should Beatrice and Caleb come more in the story? Reviews, please! :)**


	3. Chapter 3: Another Day

**Sorry about not updating in a while! Things got in the way here and there (sort of, maybe), but now I've got a new and original (unless it resembles selections from my Candor initiation story too much) chapter for you-all to read! Enjoy!**

A child raised her hand.

"Yes?" I asked, smiling despite my frustration. Reading stories to a whole class of kindergarteners isn't very fun when the kids constantly ask questions and have to use the restroom.

"How come the prince doesn't just ask the princess to dance with him?" the child asked.

"I don't know," I replied. "Maybe he just isn't smart enough to realize how simple it is to ask."

Another child raised his hand, saying, "When's he gonna turn into a frog?"

"Excuse me?" I raised an eyebrow. _Where on earth did this kid get an idea like that? _

The child said, "Every good story has the prince turning into a frog at the end."

Sarah and Rebekah, who were busy setting up snacks on the little tables for the kids, tried to stifle giggles and chuckles.

I continued reading the story. For almost five minutes, I went without interruptions. Finally, though, another child had a question.

"When are we gonna play outside?" she asked. She was dressed in Dauntless clothing, and had been staring outside at that extremely tall play structure all day.

"After snack time," I replied. "Then, you can go out and do whatever you want." I quickly added, "As long as you aren't being mean or causing anybody injury or anything like that."

A minute after resuming the story, a child asked, "Why are the men wearing tights?"

Looking at the pictures in the story book, the men, indeed, were wearing tights.

"Maybe that's how people dressed back then," I replied. "Now, save all your questions till the end."

"But what if we gotta go to the bathroom?"

"What if our noses start bleeding?"

"What if…"

"Snack time!" Sarah said cheerfully.

"Hurray!" all the children shouted, rushing towards the tables.

Walking towards Sarah and Rebekah, I whispered, "Thank you. I was about to put on my frowny face."

"How perverse!" Rebekah tried to look appalled, but a smile was forming on her lips.

The Dauntless child who'd been staring at the play structure walked over to me.

"You said I could go outside after my snack," she said. "I'm done eating."

"Well, you'll have wait for the other kids," Sarah said.

The child looked over at Sarah.

"How many kids need to be done with their snack before I can go out?"

My word! Who were the parents of this persistent child? Did they realize they were raising an amateur diplomat?

"Just go back and sit down," Sarah said. "I'll tell you all when you can go out."

The child was obviously upset, but went back to where she'd been sitting at the table.

She brightened up when Sarah told the children five minutes later that they could go outside.

Sarah, Rebekah, and I cleaned up the classroom after the children left, sweeping the floors, wiping down the tables and other surfaces, picking up the toys the kids left on the floor despite how loudly they sang the "Clean Up" song.

Around half past ten, the teacher walked through the classroom door. She was dressed in blue from the top of her neck down to her toes, and her hair was a massive mess over her head. A pair of spectacles were in her pocket protector.

"Look how clean it is!" she said, grinning like none other. "And, the children are definitely happy. They noticed me walking up to the school, and several of them came and told me how much fun they had."

"Glad we could be of help," Rebekah said.

"Thank you, thank you." The teacher absentmindedly moved a lock of hair behind her ear. "I was concerned at first when I was called to a meeting that I wouldn't be able to find substitutes, and everything would be in chaos, yada yada yahoo yahee-eye. You Abnegation kids are a Godsend."

It felt weird receiving a compliment from an Erudite, especially after how slanderous Jeanine and Jehoshaphat Matthews could be in their _The Nosies _news articles, but not every one of those blue-clad bookworms are callous, I guess.

Sarah, Rebekah, and I walked towards the Abnegation section of the city. Along, the way, we bumped into Shimea and Raddai.

"What were you fellas doing today?" Shimea asked.

"We were volunteer substitute teachers for a kindergarten teacher," Sarah replied. "What about you?"

Raddai replied, grinning, "We got to help McClutter stock her shop's shelves."

"Lucky!" Rebekah said, laughing.

We finally reached Abnegation headquarters. Walking in, we saw a small sign made out of copy paper and marker ink which said "Initiates go up to the the third floor and down hallway B and enter room 221".

Room 221 was just large enough to hold all of the initiates and two instructors, whose names happened to be Philemon and Onesimus. I remembered hearing mention of them- Onesimus had been adopted by Philemon's parents years ago after a messy situation happened in the former's life. Apparently, now, they were as happy as can be, and no one would have guessed they weren't biological siblings.

"Looks like everyone's in here," Philemon said. "So, you may all be wondering, 'What sort of service project are we gonna do now?' Actually, for the next few hours, we're all going to be doing a series of mind and consciousness exercises, to direct our thoughts towards others and to think less selfishly."

_Meditation, _I thought, remembering how Fay and several other Amity used to do it a lot.

Onesimus said, "A lot of you may not be familiar with this particular practice, but it is an excellent way to control your mind and learn how to evaluate your emotions. As we know, thoughts become words, words become actions. As full-fledged members of Abnegation, you will want to do away with all selfish thoughts."

Whoa, whoa! Wait a second! Did he just quote part of the Amity manifesto? Whatever. Whether or not it was another faction's philosophy, it was still the truth.

Philemon and Onesimus first started teaching us initiates mindfulness meditation- we were to close our eyes, and, rather than focusing on whatever was going on in our heads, use all our concentration to focus on every single sound. My eyes closed, I tried to stop thinking about what I was gonna do that day and whether or not I'll make it to the evening, and concentrated on the hum of the A.C., and the train horn in the distance, and the growling of one of my fellow initiate's stomachs.

Afterwards, we were instructed to focus on one particular sound. I chose to focus on the A.C., since that was a constant noise. It was somewhat of a struggle trying to stay focused on it, though. I should have concentrated on bird calls, instead- at least those were interesting and ever changing.

"That will be enough for today," Philemon announced. "Tomorrow, we will practice more in here, and, the day after tomorrow, we will go out into public to practice it while looking at people who pass by. With practice, you will learn how to focus completely on people other than yourselves."

That night, I sang more for my fellow initiates. It kind of peeved me that they were so persistent. Actually, a lot of things had been making me cross lately- at first, I thought it might be homesickness, but, honestly, it seemed like a hormonal issue. Man, I miss the Amity bread!

Anyway, I sang a song my father taught me when I was little and scared of the dark. The chorus went somewhat along the lines of:

"_Just close your eyes,_

_The sun is going down._

_You'll be alright,_

_No one to hurt you now._

_Till morning light,_

_You and I'll be safe and sound._"

"I wish there was more singing around here," Rachel said, sighing. "Selflessness doesn't require us to live without music, does it?"

"When we were all, like, five years old," Sarah said, "there was group singing at church. It probably distracted people too much from God, so now there's chanting."

"I remember the songs," Shimea muttered. "Not that any specifics come to mind, it was so long ago, but church used to have some wonderful hymns. The synagogue used to have music, also."

Ozem pointed out, "It seems like it was only recently when everyone unanimously decided that singing is self-indulgent and attention-causing."

Gazing over at the window, I watched the Sabbath candles flicker. I wondered if a time would come when setting candles in your window became a sign of selfishness. What about having a face or figure which looks different from everyone elses? Would Abnegation someday give all of its members plastic surgery to have everyone look more uniform?

_Impudent wretch! _I scolded myself. _Where'd you get crazy ideas like that?!_

True to Shimea's words, there was no music at the synagogue the next day. There were, though, surprisingly, people from every single faction in that building. It apparently was the only synagogue in the city. The majority of its congregants were from Abnegation, but, others who attended it would wear Abnegation garb. (Thankfully, it made the experience less distracting, and also showed what level of respect these "outsiders" had for my new faction).

Shimea led me into the sanctuary, and through several rows of pews. Our fellow initiates had scattered off to their family's respective areas, so it was reassuring to know that Shimea wouldn't leave me behind to get lost or something like that.

"You can sit with my family," he said. "They won't mind."

Sitting somewhere on the far left of the pews were a woman, a man, and two young ladies. Shimea led me to them.

"Mom, Dad," Shimea said to the woman and man, "this is Geb. He's a transfer. And Geb, these are my parents, Dinah and Ben-Oni. Oh, and these are my sisters, Ruth and Naomi."

"It's nice to meet you, Geb," Dinah said. "Are you a friend of Shimea's?"

The question seemed like rubbish. I mean, why else would he drag me through a building full of people just to meet his folks? The feel of being in a room stock-full of strangers was getting at me, and I still hadn't gotten over my Peace Serum withdrawals. I had to suck up irritation was threatening to make its way out.

"Yeah," I replied, smiling. The smile made me feel better, in a way, as if it was easier to be friendly. "I'm a friend of his."

Sitting down, I noticed Olgaba and Elgobelia in the pew right behind the one Shimea's family and I were on. Sitting right between them was a guy around my age, who had incredibly shaggy brown hair and freckles dotted all over his curved nose.

"Hi, Geb!" Olgaba said, smiling gleefully. "I don't think you've met Elggy's and my child, Matthew. Well, now you both know what each other's names are, so I don't have to formally introduce all you-all." She giggled.

Matthew smiled at me, saying, "I have toe fungus."

Forgetting to be polite, I grimaced, which caused Matthew to laugh.

Shimea turned around in the pew, and said, "Matt, how's Candor? Are the people there as rude as everyone says they are?"

"I dunno." Matthew shrugged. "I kind of like it, even if a lot of it is badmouthing and talking about no-one's-business."

After the service itself, all of the congregants had a big potluck. Apparently, they did that every Sabbath. It certainly gave me plenty of opportunity to get to know people, which I spurned, due to a sudden attack of shyness and irritability. Stinkin' Peace Serum, and stinkin' bashful disposition!

The next day at church, Shimea led me to where his aunt was sitting. He plopped down right next to her on the pew, and said, "I learned the most amazing thing the other day."

"Really?" his aunt asked, raising an eyebrow. "And what might that be?"

"Apparently, fifteen percent of ectomorphic people have a variant type of metabolism which converts their cholesterol to polymonomultides."

"Hmmm… Interesting. I would have thought it'd be endomorphic people who'd undergo that."

I didn't need to observe the strange looks of the other congregants in order to figure out that this wasn't a very Abnegation sort of conversation.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Shimea giggled a bit. "This here is Geb."

The aunt, smiling said, "Hello. My name's Rahab."

Rahab… So that was her name. Shimea had mentioned to me earlier that his aunt had changed her name when she'd transferred factions, to remember the new life ahead of her. The name was just as appropriate when she was baptized, much to the disdain of Dinah and Ben-Oni.

The church service was done in a style known as "semi-unprogrammed". In other words, there were multiple speakers (the church had four "gifted preachers", two of whom definitely enlightening me on certain confusing passages of Scripture, and the other two giving plenty of inspiration to live like Christ), and most of the prayer times and chants were spontaneous. At the same time, though, a couple of tithingmen made sure there was order, and, oftentimes, discussions would start if someone said something which another person didn't agree with. Somewhat in the middle, the children were dismissed to their own service, leaving the teenagers and adults to discuss, preach on, prophecy on, &tc., topics more pertaining to their own age group.

The service was… like organized chaos. In Amity, the church did completely unprogrammed services, which had always made me feel rather uncomfortable. Not that we'd end up like the church at Corinth, disrupting each other and all, but it still felt unsteady. Abnegation's keeping of order while respecting wiggle room (in other words, their semi-unprogrammedness) gave me just the right synthesis of freedom and boundaries that I needed.

Like in the synagogue, the Abnegation church has potlucks after service every week. Sitting at the table, I picked at my butterless baked potato, listening to the conversation Sarah, Rebekah, and Shimea were having. A dark wave of gloom fell over me.

Suddenly, I blurted out, "Where's the restroom?"

"It's just down the hall," Rebekah said.

In the restroom, I was finally alone. Tears fell down my cheeks, wettening my face and finally releasing the emotions which had plagued me this past week: Homesickness, remorse, fatigue, &tc.

"This was your choice," I reminded myself. "Stop feeling guilty about leaving your family- you knew you could help society better over here than if you'd stayed in Amity. You're gonna be a social worker, or some other selfless type of person, and you're gonna do a lot of good for everyone."

I just stood in the restroom, crying, for about ten minutes. I felt so much better after letting my eyes do their little spitting contest. Footsteps sounded out in the hallway.

Then, walking through the door came Caleb Prior and a guy about his age with blonde, curly hair. They both paused, staring at me.

"Are you okay?" the blonde guy inquired, a genuinely concerned look on his face.

"Yeah," I replied. "I'm just basking in my giddy gleefulness at the moment."

The blonde laughed, not a cruel laugh, just an easygoing one.

"I'm Robert," he said. "Caleb pointed you out to me right before service started."

"Pointed me out?" I mused aloud, "Sounds like Caleb's had me on that mind of his."

"Not like _that_!" Caleb said defensively.

"Like what?"

"I mean, not like… not like… Not in _that _sort of way!"

"Oh… In a hotsy-totsy sort of way. I get it!"

Robert raised an eyebrow, "Seriously, Caleb, you thought he thought he thought your thoughts were thinking in the manner of eroticly attracted in nature?" He looked at me. "Anyway, you haven't yet explained what your problem is. How come your eyes are red and puffy?"

"Because I've been crying," I replied.

"Sassypants!" Robert grinned. "No need to be rude just 'cause you don't want to give the personal answer."

"I can say whatever I so-soo want to!"

Caleb said, trying to stifle a chuckle, "If only my dad heard you say that. He would be all like, 'Young man, that is such a self-indulgent thing to say.'" He finally couldn't hold it in. He laughed out loud.

"Is your father really as horrifying as I hear?" I said. "I mean, not that he sounds like a bad person, he just seems the wet blanket, stick in the mud sort of fellow."

Caleb shrugged.

"He's a good man," he said. "And, he's my dad, so, of course, I love him. I just wish he could be a little more natural, less of a canned Abnegationer, if you know what I mean."

Robert said, "Yeah, my parents are the same way. But, at the same time, they're my biggest role models."

"My biggest role model was my mother," I said, "and Fay. They both taught me to show love and peace and kindness, which is why I transferred. What better way is there to be Amity than through Abnegation?"

Caleb's eyes went wide in surprise.

"You thought that up?" he asked. "How… philosophical."

"I like philosophy," I replied. "It's fun to learn about."

"Do you know about Nietzsche?"

"Well, all I can say is that I sure hope some past version of me found his Übermensch. Maybe it will recur. Still, to a person whom God is dead to, attaining such a state would be utterly impossible. People have no way of perfecting, or even long-term helping, themselves."

"Are you an antihumanist, then?"

"Of course."

Robert looked confused, but Caleb kept talking on.

"What do you think of Kierkegaard?" he asked.

I replied, "I agree that we do have responsibility for the meaningfulness of our lives, but I wouldn't go so far as to reject the concept of destiny."

"That's the main problem I find, though- if we do have a destiny, then why bother with trying to find the meaning to everything? Why create for ourselves our own point to life when our successes and failures have already been planned out?"

"To look at it that way would be to view destiny and predestination as synonymous, when in fact-"

Robert cleared his throat.

"Say what?" His face was the posterchild of a discussionally lost person.

"This is just basic philosophical talk," Caleb told him.

Robert sighed. He then walked into one of the restroom's stalls.

"By the way," Caleb said, "what is the point of using the toilet when you'll just have to use it again and again? It's like waking up everyday, something that is so repetitive and eliciting nothing but the same results. What's the point in it?"

"Speak for yourself," Robert said through the stall, laughing.

That evening, Rebekah commented to me at the dinner table, "You know, Geb, I thought you'd broken your leg or did something dangerous to yourself when you didn't come back from the restroom after a bajillion minutes."

Sarah muttered, "I thought he'd been having waste problems."

I replied, "I just bumped into a couple of interesting folks."

Sarah whispered to Rebekah, "I thought guys didn't talk to each other in the restroom."

"I can hear you," I said, laughing.

"Eavesdropper!" Rebekah and Sarah both said at the same time, trying to look malicious but wearing big grins on their visages.

Lying in bed that night, I thought, _Tomorrow, a new week starts. There'll be plenty to learn, and I'll still regret transferring factions, but that won't get in the way of me enjoying my new life. _

I fell asleep, waiting and ready for another day to start.

**So, if I wrote a Divergent/Maze Runner crossover, would any of you-all read it? What if I wrote a story about Titus from the Hunger Games (he's the tribute who went cannibalistic)? Would any of you-all read *that*? (A couple of people have already said they would- I want to see if more would, though). Just wondering. I'm nearing the end of my Candor initiation story, and I'm gonna need stuff to keep me busy writing. **

**Reviews, please! Follow/favorite this story, if you so dare! Muahahahahaha!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Guilty Ones

**Sorry for not updating in a while! Also, sorry that this chapter isn't as long as other ones- I'm just craving to get something posted here after so long of not posting and all that such! Enjoy!**

"You have to hold still, Shimea!"

"Well, then you'll have to first stop that awful stinging!"

Sarah sighed.

"All I'm doing is washing your cut," she said. "I realize it stings, but I'd feel horrible if you'd gotten sick."

"If you hadn't been meddling, I could have gone without this torture." Shimea scowled.

I'd walked in on them in the kitchen. I'd been meaning to start preparing dinner, but the drama unfolding in front of me was so much more interesting.

"You mean to say," Sarah inquired, "that, before this, you've never washed your cuts?"

"Nope," Shimea replied. "Never. Now, could I please get a bandage and end this? You know I hate being treated like a child!"

"Then stop acting like one."

"Geb, tell her to stop!"

"Geb, if you so dare tell me to stop, I'll put your hand in warm water while you sleep."

I couldn't help but laugh. Seriously, those two were being a riot. Also, my mother would never have approved if she'd caught me arguing like this- to witness such a scenario made me feel rather rebellious.

Tonight, dinner would consist of protein-filled pinto beans and brown, nutritious rice. Yesterday, Dorcas had set the beans to soak, and, also, Raddai and Jael had made bread, which would go perfectly with tonight's meal. To be perfectly honest, after getting used to the "plainness", I actually kind of liked Abnegation food. I now found it rather tasty, but, I also found it rather comforting, as if its basicness gave it a homelike feel.

Sarah set water to boil on the stove, and Shimea started setting the table.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the front door.

"Who on earth could that be?" Sarah inquired.

"Geb!" Ozem's voice from the other room called. "Someone's here to see you!"

Walking into the parlor, I saw Caleb Prior standing in the doorway. Ozem was holding a bag of veggies.

"Hey!" he said, smiling. "My mom sent me to give all you-all these vegetables, but I found something you might like."

He handed me a book. The title said _An Imperial Affliction_; it was by some guy named Peter Van Houten.

"Hmmm…" I said. "Thanks. What's it about?"

"A girl with a disease called cancer. The book's meant to bring to light how folks oftentimes forget that those who are sick are people, too. It's told from quite the perspective."

"Sounds interesting… I do love different perspectives. Where'd you find it?"

"Robert and his sister Susan suggested it to me. Of course, I instantly fell in love with it."

Cindy walked down the stairs. Walking over to me, she swiped the book out of my hand. She looked at the title, frowning.

"Sorry," she said, "but I'm afraid, Caleb, that he'll have to decline the book."

"Why?" I asked, feeling nervous. "Is it smut?"

"Not that I'm aware of." Cindy gave Caleb a warning look, as if she was certain he distributed perverted magazines on the black market. "But, both of you boys really ought to focus on less self-indulgent pursuits."

"But, Ms. Cindy!" Caleb said. "There's nothing wrong with reading for pleasure! I mean, if…"

"No buts," Cindy said sternly. "What would your parents think to find you've been drowning yourself in such useless hobbies? Think of how scandalized they would be!"

Caleb looked as if he wished to argue, but knew it'd be futile.

"Bye, Geb," he said.

"Thanks anyways," I said. "I'm sure it truly is a wonderful book…"

After Caleb left, Cindy requested I speak with her and John in their room.

Once we arrived there, she said, "By the time that knock had come at the front door, I'd intended to speak with you about something that's come to mind. I heard a few of your fellow initiates _humming_, a few of them even _singing_. Tell me, have you any idea where they learned to sing?"

"Maybe they learned it sometime before they quit school," I replied. "I mean, lots of kids there enjoy music."

Cindy raised an eyebrow.

John said, "Seriously, Geb, you need to tell us the truth. We won't get angry if you've been behind this."

_Been behind this? _Seriously, he made me sound like some sort of evil mastermind.

"Yes, I've been singing," I confessed. "But they want me to teach them songs. And, it's not like it's getting in the way of our chores or community service or selflessness…"

"But it _is _getting in the way of your selflessness," Cindy said. "It's highly self-indulgent. You don't understand what ill effects it can have on you."

Since when did singing as a rule of thumb have ill effects? True, it may often be for personal pleasure, but it's been known to benefit emotional as well as mental and physical health. It's been used as a mnemonic exercise, and a way to entertain others. While there are some songs which could definitely create a deficit (like "Let's Drink Ourselves Drunk" and "The Perverted Song"), there are countless ones which can prove to be helpful!

"Geb? Geb, are you listening?"

"Yeah…"

"You understand what we're saying?"

"Um… Not sure."

Cindy and John both looked somewhat frustrated. I have no idea why. It's not like I've caused a heapload of trouble- haven't I decently behaved?

John said, "Geb, don't you trust us to tell you the truth?"

Thinking about that a bit, I replied, "I think you're both honest people. That doesn't mean you always have to be correct. I mean, wouldn't that be such a burden?"

Cindy, groaning, said, "From now on, no more singing. Also, the only things you should read are instructions and the Bible. Any other issues we must discuss before you get sent back downstairs?"

"No," I replied.

"Then off with you. See you at dinnertime."

That night, I couldn't sleep. I rolled over several times, tried some of the meditation breathing exercises, counted sheep, among many things. Nothing helped at all.

"You too?"

The sound of Shimea's voice startled me.

"What on earth?!..."

"Let's not talk in here. We don't wanna wake anyone up."

Shimea and I walked downstairs, and out the front door. We started walking through the neighborhood. The cool air felt good on my face. If I'd still been in Amity, I would have been able to hear the crickets chirping and the frogs croaking. I would have been able to see countless stars blanketing the dark blue sky, and would have smelled the orchards' aroma being carried by the wind. But, alas, I was stuck in this trashy city.

"I guess Cindy and John would consider this to be self-indulgent and forbidden," I said, laughing.

"Well, then it's a good thing they're asleep." Shimea laughed back. "I heard about that book Caleb offered you. And… that there'll be no more singing going on anytime soon."

"Our dorm instructors are legalistic, that's all. They were probably faction transfers, so they feel they have to prove just how Abnegation they are."

"They're the first instructors ever in all of Abnegation history to fail someone out of initiation. Actually, they failed two people. The first was a guy who preferred to wear clothes for women. In fact, he wanted to be called a 'she'. The whole community in general agreed that this fella was strange, but harmless. Cindy and John thought otherwise, claiming that all distractions, be they living or not, should be sent far away. The other failed initiate was a rather absentminded girl. True, she wasn't as selfless as everyone hoped for, but she was still perfectly harmless. But, John and Cindy had to disagree. They thought she just 'didn't have what it takes to fit in'."

"You think that'll happen to me?"

"I hope not. I mean, you wouldn't want to be factionless, would you?"

There was a silence between us for a moment.

Sighing, Shimea said, "Matthew did the smart thing. He knew these instructors wouldn't let him pass initiation, so he transferred. I hope he's happy in Candor. He should fit right in- he didn't always know how to bridle his tongue."

We'd walked a bit too far. We were now outside of the Abnegation section of the city. Right in front of us were train tracks. A horn blew in the distance.

Suddenly, I felt an urge go through me. As the train started coming up the tracks, I backed up and got myself in position. When the first train car was in front of me, I jumped. A rush of fear and excitement swept over me, and then, I felt my feet go thud against the train car floor.

My head pulsed, and a rush of adrenaline flowed right through me. Had I seriously just done that? I must be some crazy person, or something like that.

"Impressive," a female voice said behind me.

Whirling around, I noticed a small, blonde Abnegation girl about my age or younger sitting in the train car's corner. At first, I thought it was Beatrice, but, looking twice, I saw that wasn't the case.

The girl stood up.

"I'm Susan Black," she said. "And may I ask what your name is?"

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, and tell me what you think! If you have any suggestions, feel free to say them! :)**


	5. Chapter 5: On the Street

Susan was Robert's sister. I'd seen her at church, but had been too crabby and shy to say hello. Now, I was finally going to be made to talk to her. Thankfully, I was finally starting to get to know more people, and was getting used to the Abnegation strangers, so my shell had started to peel off.

Therefore, with only slight traces of shyness, I looked her straight in the face (without making eye contact, because that's weird), and said, "My name is Geb Whiteeagle."

"Pleasure to meet you." Susan nodded her head. "It's nice to know I'm not the only one from our faction to jump on and off trains."

"Um… It's not something I was planning on doing. I did this completely on impulse."

"I did it slightly on impulse at first, but mostly out of curiosity. Also, I'm an insomniac, so this gives me something to do at night."

I thought, then said, "Some folks would consider this self-indulgent."

Susan replied, "No one's harmed by it, and it's not like people normally do community service at this time."

The train trekked through the city, passing through each faction's section, the only light being from streetlamps which blocked out the beautiful stars in the sky, because whoever this Marcus guy was, he wasn't the sort of leader who was fond of environmentalism. Filthy earth killer.

"I used to watch the Dauntless jumping from their trains everyday," Susan said. "Beatrice did, too, but she's too much of a goody-two-shoes to actually attempt such an activity. So, I never thought to invite her on my nightly train rides."

"I've never really liked the Dauntless, as a whole," I said. "They're reckless, violent, immature, insensitive…"

"Some of them are actually quite nice," Susan replied. "Their lifestyle may not be what it should, but they're just people. And, when the time comes, if one of them needs help up or requires a helping hand, we'll be there for them, even if they've never been there for us."

As the train rode through the night, we chatted away. A lot of our conversation steered towards the subject of Caleb. At first, I thought she was just really good friends with him. _Then_, I figured out that she had an enormous crush on him, and, through her own information, it became obvious he had an enormous crush on her, also.

"And then, the other day," she said, "Caleb and I were at school, in the lunch line- he let me go ahead of him, because he's truly selfless and sweet- and that's when I learned that he really knows a lot about food and cooking. He said that the rhubarb leaves themselves aren't put into the pie, because those are poisonous."

"Every sensible person knows that," I said. I then suddenly thought, _Drat! Now she'll think I insulted her and called her dumb!_

But Susan just went on smiling, and talking away about how wonderful Caleb is, how intelligent Caleb is, how extremely beautiful Caleb is, yada yada yada.

"I mean, he's so cute!" she said. "He's like that frog who turns into a prince, minus the frog part! So handsome!"

"Well, he is indeed attractive," I said. "Looks a bit like Augustus Waters, if I do say so myself. But, I don't think he's quite bossy enough to be a prince. I mean, despite only knowing him for a short amount of time, he doesn't seem the sort who would want to be king after his dad dies and oppress the masses."

"He would never oppress anyone," Susan said. "He would never hurt a fly. He's just so sweet and caring."

"Are you friends with his sister?" I asked. "I mean, you obviously spend a lot of time with him, so you must know his sister rather well."

"Oh, yes. I like Beatrice. She's not very friendly, though, and doesn't seem to want to ask questions about others. She's very much into the 'don't act self-indulgent' sort of thing. I think her father hammers it into her."

"Maybe she's just a boring person in general. I've met folks like that."

"I keep telling Robert that he and Beatrice would be the perfect couple together, but he's just not interested. I think he'd prefer to be a spinster for the rest of his life."

"I understand the feeling. It makes listening to people talk about their crushes a dull past time."

"Everyone should have an attainable crush, shouldn't they?"

"Well, technically, a crush is someone you can't…"

"Love is so wonderful! I'm so glad that God created us all to get married and have children!"

"I don't know where you're getting these ideas, but you're obviously needing to have a talk with your mom about all this."

Apparently, that day, she'd received a note from Caleb, which is why she had him so completely on her mind. The next few nights, when I would jump onto the train and chat with her, she talked about a variety of other things. Still, somehow, the subject of Caleb would seep into the conversation. Honestly, that girl really needed to officially ask him out- this weird obsession thing was getting unhealthy.

Shimea said I was a crazy person for jumping on and off trains. He had told no one about my nightly excursions, knowing that the word would spread and reach John and Cindy, who would most definitely flunk me out of initiation.

Everyday was a new volunteer activity. One day, it was handing out food to the factionless. The next, it was cleaning up the town square. Some jobs were more fun than others, but they always left me with the feeling that I did something good for society.

At nights, Susan and I would sometimes jump off the train in some random part of town. If we were by a public park, she would take me there and teach me how to do cartwheels and flips. If we were by the market, she would take me there and leave a bag of candies or treats, with writing on it saying "TAKE ONE, PLEASE". If were were by the Erudite section of the city, she would take me there, and we would put on blue clothes (don't ask me where she got them), and would go to the library at Erudite headquarters. There, we would borrow books, which we would first read, and normally always loaned to Caleb and Robert.

One fine sunshiny day, all the Abnegation initiates (including me, of course) were helping some Amity (none of whom I recognized) move crates of produce to their respective market stalls. Sarah, Rebekah, Shimea, and I all carried one full of corn- it was heavier than Fat Albert after the buffet.

Anyways, as we placed the crate on the ground, hurting our backs in the process, I noticed Susan, Caleb, and Robert walking about. They each were carrying bags full of food items they'd bought, shopping for this week's dinners.

"Good day, Geb!" Susan said.

"Hello, Geb!" Caleb said.

"Hi, Geb!" Robert said.

"Wow, Geb," Rebekah said. "You're quite popular, aren't you?"

The trio walked towards my fellow initiates and me.

Squeezing my upper arms, Robert said, "You're real muscley, picking up those crates." He laughed at my dumbfounded reaction, patting me lightly on the shoulder. "Just teasing!"

Susan said, "Of course he's muscley- he used to be apart of the farming faction. I would be muscley, too, if I'd been raised tending to the land. I would look buff like our distant ancestor, the great Jacob Black. Other than that, I wouldn't look like him at all."

Robert said, "Wasn't he dark-skinned with pitch black hair, like Geb here?"

Susan shrugged, saying, "Who knows what our ancestors looked like."

Caleb said, "It'd be an interesting thing to study. Genealogy. I wish I knew more about my ancestors, or anyone's ancestors. Family trees are just too cool. Anyway, we better get going. Beatrice will be wanting to get dinner started cooking soon. See ya, Geb!"

"Bye, Geb!

"Toodle-oo, Geb!"

They left, walking towards the Abnegation section of town. (Where'd you think they were leaving to? The sewage system? [That, honestly, was dumb of me to say.])

Sarah said, "Everyone seems to like you. I mean, if non-initiates are talking to you and wanting to hang out with you, you must be one cool guy. Which, you are."

"Thanks," I said, "but I don't see what's so awesome about me. Maybe I've just found friendly people who like me, that's all."

"No," Rebekah said. "Seriously, despite being shy sometimes, _you're _the friendly one. You're really inviting and kindhearted, which draws people to you. You're also rather… unique, preferring to be yourself rather than fit into the mold."

Too many compliments! How was I to become selfless if people kept showering me with nice things to say?

Shimea randomly blurted out, "I just remembered! Tomorrow's Visiting Day!"

"Like I never see my parents ever," Sarah said, laughing. "Still, it'll be fun for them to finally see me as a grown-up, who can think for herself during a crisis."

We all laughed.

"Let's go over and pick up the next crate," I said. "We don't wanna get behind everyone else, now, do we?"

"Who said this was a competition?" Shimea inquired.

Before I could reply, Rebekah said, "Everything is a competition!"

That had us bursting out laughing, again.

**Sorry that this chapter is short like the last one. I just feel like I'm running out of ideas. Do you like the shorter chapters, or would you like me to go back to doing longer ones? Also, what do you-all think? Are Susan, Robert, and Caleb out of character, and do you like how I'm depicting them? If you have any ideas, please let me know! Before the next chapter gets posted, I want at least 5 reviews, just to know that I have somewhat of a following. Not that I won't update if I don't get the reviews, but it's a small goal to boost my morale. Thanks! :) **


	6. Chapter 6: Don't Do SadnessBlue Wind

Today was Visiting Day. To the Abnegation-born initiates (everyone but me), that meant going to the homes of their parents and families and getting to visit them. To me, that meant not knowing whether or not my mother and siblings could find their way over to the initiates' dorm house. What if they got lost? I mean, the buildings all look almost identical!

Sitting on the parlor sofa, with my hands closed politely in my lap, I listened while John lectured me on the virtues of not gazing at my reflection. That morning, I had asked why the only mirror in the house was hidden most all the time, so he deemed it necessary to talk his mouth off.

To be perfectly honest, I felt kind of guilty. I mean, John and Cindy were truly trying to instill good values into us initiates. Not that I acted selfish- I simply didn't live up to _their _standards. I guess that's always been one of my problems, never being able to please people in the lifestyle department.

A knock came at the front door. Cindy, who was also in the parlor at that moment, answered it. I instantly stood up.

"Mama!" I exclaimed, rushing over to her.

I hugged my mother, then my twin sister Windsong, and then my younger sisters Understanding and Heart. John groaned with frustration, and Cindy made a tsk-tsk sound. I introduced my family and my instructors to each other.

"Sit down, sit down!" I said, smiling gleefully. "There's so much we need to catch up on!"

"And, apparently," Cindy whispered into my ear, "there are some manners _we _need to catch up on. Remember, you mustn't act this unreserved; I don't care if you're related to them."

My mother and sisters looked at Cindy in a concerned manner, but didn't let it show much.

"Don't worry, Ms. Cindy," my mother said. "We take no offense by his actions."

Cindy blushed at being overheard.

My mother then looked at me.

"So, Geb…" she said. "Um… How've you been?"

"Oh, life's been grand!" I said. "I get to help a lot of people; you can't imagine how wonderful it is, just to see the happy looks on people's faces when you do something nice for them!"

Windsong said, "You look different. I don't think I've ever seen your hair this short. There was a time when your hair was long enough that you stuck feathers and beads in it."

"I know," I replied. "My hair was too distracting, so I got it cut."

My mother remarked, "And those clothes… They're so dull. No offense. I mean… I'm sorry. It's just hard for a parent to see her child and hardly recognize him."

"Mama, I'm still me, and always will be. But, let's talk about _you-all_. What's been going on in _your _lives?"

Understanding said, "I get to sing a solo on Midsummer Eve. And Heart's gonna be apart of an exhibition dance."

Heart added, "And we're both making ourselves new dresses for it. Understanding's'll be green with red trimming, and mine'll be yellow with green trimming."

Windsong said, "You can't imagine how much fun Amity initiation is- everyone's real nice to each other, and all the transfers fit in just fine. There's a boy from Erudite named Albert, and he's oh so intelligent, and truly as kind as can be. I can honestly say I've never met anyone quite like him before."

I instantly thought of Susan, and her affection for Caleb. Apparently, like Susan, my twin was attracted to friendly, kindhearted nerds.

"Have you been making friends?" my mother asked.

"Oh, definitely!" I replied. "Maybe, some come home early, or if you stay late, you can meet a few. You'd like Shimea, and Sarah, and Rebekah, and all of the other initiates. You'd also like some of my other friends here."

A knock came at the door just then. John answered it.

"Speaking of friends," I said, "there's Robert. He's one of my friends from church."

Walking in, Robert smiled at my family.

"Hey, Geb," he said. "I just came by, because I kind of thought, in case your family didn't show up, you'd be down in the dumps and lonely. Looks like they're here, though."

"They're very loving," I said. "I don't know if there are any other parents in this whole city nice enough to visit their children in Abnegation."

My mother and Windsong seemed to flinch at the word "Abnegation".

After I named off my mother and sisters to Robert, my mother said, "So Geb, there's an answer I've been waiting for for quite a while: Why did you transfer to Abnegation, of all factions to choose from?"

"Because I can help people here," I said. "There are plenty of counselors and farmers- what society needs are more social workers. There's never enough for those who go without, and there are countless city projects which need to get done. Maybe my spot here will increase productivity, despite how I'm humbly just one entity."

"But… Are you _really _happy here?"

"I guess so. It's a very different lifestyle from how I was raised, and not all people are as kind or fair to me as I would wish. But, at those few moments when I'm feeling upset and discontent, I remind myself that there's more to life than being happy. Other than that, this truly is the place for me." Noticing the pain on my mother's face, I added, "But it was a hard decision to make. All the time, I feel bad for leaving you."

Robert made some sort of sympathetic noise.

Windsong said, "Mama cried because you left. She didn't know what she'd done wrong; she had no idea why you would leave."

"Mama!" I said. "Why on earth… You couldn't've… But, I mean…" Had I seriously caused her to go through excruciating emotional pain? She certainly didn't seem too happy today- in fact, she was not acting very Amity. Was this all my fault?

"Windsong," my mother said, "you shouldn't try to guilt trip your brother."

Heart said, "Didn't we talk about this before coming here, Mama? That we wouldn't try to make him feel bad?"

My mother groaned.

"It was bad enough when Delilah left," she said. "I refuse to make it worse on myself or anyone else."

I tried to fight back the urge to verbally condemn her for her selfishness. It helped to remember that what I'd done was just as selfish, in a way.

"I should have never transferred," I said.

"It's not just the transferral that's hard on me," my mother said. "What's so hard is that you transferred to _Abnegation_. You left a life of freedom and bliss, and decided to join a very legalistic faction."

Robert cleared his throat.

"We aren't all like that," he said. "Normally, we're quite fun-loving. It's only a few of us," he glared at John and Cindy, "who live up to the stereotypes."

"Robert!" John said, quietly. "Don't speak when the conversation isn't yours."

Windsong said, "I don't think Robert's butting in. I mean, he's in the room, so he should be allowed to join the discussion."

John and Cindy grimaced at the term "butting in". I guess they disapprove of the word "butt". Muahaha!

My mother, looking at me, said, "Geb, I don't want you to feel bad, but you've made your Choice. Remember, though, that you can always come back to us if you decide you Chose wrong."

"Thank Heaven," Cindy muttered under her breath.

"Thank you for reminding me," I said politely to my mother.

Seriously, I'd expected a much more heartwarming reunion with my family. Maybe I'd overestimated their ability to be calm and reasonable. Or, maybe I was heartless and didn't care twopence for them, like the jerk that I am. Why'd I have to break their hearts like I did?

After some more chitchat, most of it surface-level small talk, my mother and sisters left.

Once they were gone, and once Cindy and John had gone off into the kitchen to start making lunch, I burst into tears. Robert sat down on the sofa and wrapped his arms around me.

"Hush, hush," he said soothingly. "They didn't mean a thing they said. They're just a bunch of sad people…"

"Because of me," I choked out. "Goodness, I'm just some wretch, aren't I?"

"No, you aren't. You're an inexperienced teenager who was forced to Choose his future. It's freaky how I'll be in your position next year, having to decide what's right for me, despite my young, unbroadened horizons. Anyway, if you truly come to the conclusion that this was a bad Choice for you, as your mum said, you can always go back. We are so fortunate our society has Amity, aren't we now?"

I fell silent. I didn't quite know how to reply, or even if I wanted to reply. What he was saying was true, but did I even want it to be true? I wanted to know that I had done the right thing, and could stick to it, and live the rest of my life happily and simply without having to make too many more decisions.

Robert wiped a tear off my face with his thumb.

"Why don't you have lunch at my house?" he asked. "Susan's been wanting to invite you for a while, and our parents would be perfectly okay with it. They'll be at work anyway, so you don't have to worry about being disapproved of."

"That's very kind of you," I said. "Plus, I don't want to spend the rest of my day with those record stinkers in the other room."

After telling Cindy and John where I'd be, I left the initiates' dorm house with Robert.

_You know, _I thought to myself while walking to the Blacks' house, _my family wasn't being mean or cruel. I've hurt their feelings, and have done something they aren't quite comfortable with. As time passes, God will heal us. Maybe, if I ever see them again, we'll have gotten over our hard feelings. _

With that thought, I added a skip to my step, feeling as if a weight had lifted. Aren't I a lucky fella?

**Hey, y'all! What'd you think of this last chapter? Remember to review! And, thanks to those who've already reviewed, especially theevilsquiddancer, my most devoted reviewer! :) Be sure to give me suggestions as to what you'd like to have happen next! :) :) :) **


	7. Chapter 7: What Is This Feeling?

**Hurray! Time for a new chapter! Thanks to poseidon's hufflepuff daughter and theevilsquiddancer for reviewing! :)**

Philemon and Onesimus are so annoying! If they're supposed to teach us to concentrate on others, why on earth do they keep telling us to look within ourselves? And, I realize concentration is learned despite the world in chaos, but do they have to constantly chatter during meditation lessons?

Sarah got so fed up with them talking about nothing useful in general that she through a pebble that'd gotten into her shoe at them.

"Ow!" Onesimus said. "Something hit my shoulder! Who did that?"

Sarah said, "Honestly, that couldn't have hurt that much. And, could you fellas be a little more quiet?"

Philemon tried to suppress a chuckle.

"Wow, Onesimus!" he said. "You just got told off by an initiate! Should we tattle on her to their nannies?"

"Oh, no!" Onesimus looked shocked. "Cindy would suggest a hanging, while John will surely be turning on the electric chair!"

They both burst out laughing.

Philemon then looked at us initiates, saying, "Since you're all whizzes now at meditating while two blokes chat about who-knows-what, why don't we take you-all out in public? We'll ride the bus around, and I want you to be polite and block off all self-indulgent thoughts."

If I wasn't being so utterly selfless at the moment, I would have been pleased to hear that we were making an excursion out in public.

I never liked riding the bus. Normally, I would walk to school. All of my sisters, except Delilah, thought I was totally crazy.

"Hey, Geb!" Delilah would say on certain mornings. "Wait up! I wanna walk today!"

"Again?" I asked. "You sure you don't wanna…"

"I can do with the fresh air," she explained.

This particular morning I'm remembering, she walked while flipping through the pages of her drawing notebook. She'd always done such dark, gloomy drawings. A lot of people hated them, calling them ugly, but I rather liked how they weren't perky like those of other Amity artists.

"You know," I said, "Windsong thinks there's something wrong with you because of your drawings."

Delilah replied, "She can think what she likes. My drawings make me happy- if they make her sad, she can look at something else."

"She really doesn't understand you, does she? She thinks you're pessimistic, just because you don't lie about how 'everything'll be okay'. She probably can't even stand the sight of you- the other day, she told me you looked like you were dressed for a funeral."

Delilah laughed.

"Just because I wear darker clothing doesn't mean I'm dressed for a funeral," she said. "I mean, look at how much 'funeral' clothing the people from Candor wear. Man, I love Candor! They're just so open about what they feel and think! I mean, how can you be pessimistic or optimistic when you have enough truth on your tongue and mind to be both?"

Today, as Philemon and Onesimus supervised us initiates on the bus, our ride took us through every part of the city. In the Candor section, sure enough, it was her I saw walking around, dressed in black-and-white. Well, she was wearing more black than white, of course. And you know what the weirdest part was? She was holding the hand of _a boy! _

"Oh, my word!" I said under my breath. "Delilah has a boyfriend!"

I glued my eyes to the window. That fella looked familiar… I think I saw him every now and then at the synagogue- he came with Matthew. Not that I sat with Shimea's family any more (his father was repulsed by me for some unknown reason), so I no longer sat in front of Olgaba and Elgobelia. So, I never really got to talk to this guy. Also, there was something about him that reminded me of my old faction. But was it… Oh, my word! I figured it all out!

"That's _Lennon!_" I exclaimedly muttered.

Shimea, who was standing near me, heard.

"Say what?" he whispered.

"He's the guy walking down the street with my sister," I explained. "I saw him every now and then at Amity, but not enough for me to recognize him every Sabbath over here. What's he dating my sister for?"

"Maybe he thinks she's pretty," Shimea suggested.

"Nah," I replied. "She'd never go out with a guy like that."

"Boys," Philemon inquired at us, "are you two talking?"

"No," Shimea said. "We're conversing."

Philemon sighed, defeatedly.

For the rest of the bus ride, I tried my best not to self-indulge by curiously thinking about what I'd just witnessed. How could Delilah go out with Lennon? How could she betray our pact of singleness? How? How?!

That evening, I walked over to the Priors' house. I'd just finished a most interesting book from the library (the only library in town other than the school's was at Erudite headquarters, which I managed to get in without people staring and glaring due to my inconspicuous Abnegation ways; seriously, I've walked past Jeanine Matthews in there several times, and she mistakes me for part of the buildings ugly concrete floor; of course, I'm no thief, so I would blow my cover for a second just to check books out properly), and thought that Caleb might like it.

I knocked on the door. After a moment or so of waiting, it was answered.

"Hello, Beatrice," I said smiling. "Is your brother at home?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Come on in."

I waited in the parlor. Caleb walked down the stairs, and his face brightened when he saw me.

"I just finished this book," I said, handing it to him. "Wanna read it?"

Caleb read the title, _The Hunger Games_, by someone named Suzanne Collins.

"Cool!" he said. "What's it about?"

"It's about a country that annually puts children in a big fight to the death," I said. "The main character lives in total poverty, so she eats animals and has no sense of pacifism and is emotionally hardened."

"Sounds like a mixture of the factionless and Dauntless," Caleb said.

Beatrice, who was in the parlor with us, looked uncomfortable.

"Caleb," she said, "Mom'd be okay with you reading for pleasure, but Dad might…"

Just then, into the room walked Natalie and her husband.

"I thought I heard someone here," Natalie said, smiling. "How are you, Geb?"

"I'm doing okay," I said. "How about you?"

"Fine." Natalie looked over at her husband, then back at me. "Andrew, I don't think you've met Geb."

"I haven't," Natalie's husband, Andrew, said. "So you're the one whom my son's been talking about…" He gazed at me suspiciously. "Caleb, what's that in your hand?"

"Um…" Caleb looked sheepishly at his father. "It's a book Geb's loaning me."

"Why are you needing to read it?"

"Well, I don't _need _to…"

"Son, reading for pleasure is self-indulgent. Please hand it to me."

Caleb handed the book to Andrew, who read the back cover with a neutral look on his face.

"Aside from the indulgence factor, why would you think this would be a good book to read?" Andrew asked me. "It says on the back the story's about children killing each other, and about evil governments. I don't care if it speaks out against such things- it altogether sounds inappropriate. Would I want kids reading stuff like this? Absolutely not."

"But, that's the point of books," I said. "They're supposed to toss about ideas. Speaking out against vile things is one way they present their ideas."

"What if it gives out the wrong ideas?" he asked, his tone becoming stern. "You're young, so you might not understand what it's actually saying. While you think it's teaching you to be peaceful and not fight, it's instead putting graphic, gory images in your head, conditioning you to be violent. While you think it's warning you to make sure your government stays in line and doesn't go corrupt, it's instead conditioning you to be discontent with the leaders you already have. Seriously, would Abnegation, as our city's government, do to our city what the people in this book do to their country?"

Natalie said, "Andrew, dear, you shouldn't get so worked up about this. There's nothing for Caleb to do in the evening after his homework, so I see nothing wrong with him reading at that time. And, about the book's content, you can't shield him or Beatrice from such things forever. They need to know that certain things happen in the world."

Andrew thought for a moment. He then opened his mouth, as if to reply to his wife. Boy, was I wrong!

"And, Geb," he said, "where did you get this book to begin with? Certainly not the school library, and certainly nowhere in Abnegation. Let's look at this serial number taped onto it…" He read the words above the number: "Property of Erudite Headquarters". "What were you doing at Erudite headquarters? Don't you realize you'll never be welcome there? Don't you understand what it means for Abnegation and Erudite to be _enemies_?"

He rubbed his temples; for the first time, I'd officially given someone a headache.

"They could have locked you up," he said. "_She _could have locked you up. She hates people like us, Geb, you understand that, right? You could have gotten in big trouble, and then an article about you would end up in _The Nosies _by the next day, and Abnegation would have an even worse name than before."

"Andrew!" Natalie chided gently. "You are overreacting to this. It's people like you who help give Abnegation a bad name, folks who have to prove that they're selfless enough, to make up for 'improper' breeding and birth…"

Outside, it had already gotten dark.

"I'd better be leaving," I said. "Please hand me back that book- I'll return it, since it looks like Caleb won't be reading it."

"No, _I'll _return it myself," Andrew said. "I don't want you going back into that library, young man. What would John and Cindy think?"

"They'd probably drop me from initiation," I said. "I'll end up meeting those two gals who were already dropped, and we can swap stories…"

"Poor girls," Natalie muttered.

"I thought one of them was a guy," Beatrice whispered to Caleb.

Andrew said, "Don't get sassy with me. I've got half a mind to tell John and Cindy that they give you initiates way too much free time, with you wandering around and all. Behave, Geb, or it will all go against you."

With that, he stompishly walked out of the parlor.

Beatrice sighed, and walked up the stairs, obviously done with witnessing drama.

Natalie sat down on the sofa.

"Boys, sit please," she said.

Caleb and I sat on either side of her.

"There is nothing wrong with you reading," she said. "But Geb, while you're under Cindy and John's supervision, I would suggest you honor them by not pleasure reading. After initiation, you'll get your own house, and you can set your own rules for that house. Caleb, I will talk with your father more on this issue. If he still says no, we'll both have to honor that decision of his, as long as it keeps peace in this household. In the meantime, though, I am just as much head of this family as he is, and I know he'll listen to what I have to say. I mean, we aren't dysfunctional like the Eatons were, with one spouse trying to control the other."

"I'm sorry for ruining your evening," I said. "I just…"

"Don't be sorry," Natalie said. "This isn't your fault."

Caleb inquired, "Why's Dad gotta be so strict?"

Natalie replied, "It's because he's insecure about his… Abnegationness. He needs to prove to everyone that he isn't selfish. You see, he transferred from Erudite."

Caleb's eyes went wide open with shock.

"He would never tell you that," Natalie added. "So don't let him know that you know. Anyway, he went to great measures to show the Abnegationers that he was one of them. He even went so far as to change his last name. Prior, you see, was the surname of an Abnegation ancestor."

"What was the last name he was born with?" I asked, curious to find out.

Natalie thought before speaking, then said, "His last name was Matthews. It's the name his sister goes by."

"What a boring last name!" Caleb said, disgustedly. "Sounds familiar, though. Anyway, I'll try to lay off on the pleasure reading, Mom. But can I first finish that physics book I've got upstairs?"

Natalie said, "How you remind me of your aunt sometimes! So much you want to learn! Well, alright. Just try to keep it on the down low. If you start spouting off formulas tomorrow for breakfast, it won't go well with your father."

In bed that night, I felt a sinister, horrible feeling come over me. It was a feeling of anger, almost hateful, full of resentment.

_What's this horrible feeling? _I thought to myself. _No, Geb. Don't feel hatred towards Andrew Prior. That's not the right way to react to this. You gotta forgive him. _

So, I forgave him.

But the feeling was still there. I knew it'd take me a while to get over the offense caused by Cindy, John, and Andrew.

**Sorry that the past couple or so chapters have been really depressing. If you want me to, I can try to make the next few ones lighter and happier. Anyway, be sure to review, follow, and favorite! :) Also, don't be afraid to make requests for what you want to see happen in the story next! :)**


	8. Chapter 8: One Short Day

**Hurray! A long chapter! Enjoy your socks off, people! **

The sun beat down on me as I worked in the park, busily but caringly planting flowers along the walkways. There was a teeny splinter in my thumb from the bark mulch, and sweat was forming on my back.

"Hey, Geb!" Raddai called out. "Could you come over here for a second?"

I stood up too quickly- my head got a dizzy feeling and I couldn't see for a second. I walked over to where Raddai and Abinadab were planting a tree.

Abinadab said, "Are you able to dig any deeper? This soil is so tough…"

I took the shovel Raddai handed to me and pushed it into the ground, pulling out coarse, dry earth. I remembered how one summer, years ago, my father and I were working in the garden after there'd been no rain for a while. The soil there had been monstrously hard, like frozen ice cream, except it was warm.

"How do you do that?" Raddai asked.

"It must be those Amity farmer's arms," Abinadab said. "See, he's not even breaking a sweat."

"I am sweating," I replied.

"But it smells so nice," Rebekah said, walking over. "Your sweat always smells like flowers. It's better than mine, which smells like the school's nachos."

"Mine smells like gym socks!" Abinadab said, smiling.

"I better get back to tending the flowers," I said, "speaking of smelling like them."

While I was busy planting lovely pink azaleas and gorgeous purple petunias, a small group of business-like snobbish Erudite snotbrains (and I'm not even wrongly judging, because they held their noses in the air in a really rude manner) walked by. I recognized two of them, arm in arm like chums, to be Jeanine Matthews and her nosy hubbie Jehoshaphat.

"Oh, look!" Jeanine said, gazing down her snobbish nose at me. "A filthy little Abnegation boy who likes to play in the dirt! Why don't I just kick him with my high heel's heel?"

"No, Jeanine!" Jehoshaphat said. "Why don't _I _kick him? I mean, I'm the one wearing _fiercer _heels!"

"Could you fellas just keep on walking?" I asked. "You don't realize how immature you sound, blabbering about whose high heels are better, and you're bound to draw unwanted attention."

"But I want everyone to see that I'm ruthless enough to kick an Abnegation boy!" Jeanine said. "It's good publicity for my, I mean, my husband's, newspaper!"

"Yes, yes!" Jehoshaphat agreed. "_The Nosies _needs a whole article on it! I can see the headlines now! 'JEANINE MATTHEWS KICKS ABNEGATIONER IN THE GALL BLADDER'! Doesn't it sound so lovely?"

"Oh, honey, I just love your newspaper! Especially since all the most important articles and all the headlines are about me!"

"That's because I'm so in love with you, my little snozzberry!"

"Oh, Jehoshaphat!"

"Oh, Jeanine!"

"Oh, Jehoshaphat!"

"Oh, Jeanine…"

The two of them did a smoochy kiss right then and there. I'd rate it a 7. I mean, it wasn't like Captain Jack and the Doctor's kiss, but it still was pretty romantic-looking.

Elgobelia, who, in order to supervise us initiates, was taking a day-off from helping the factionless, held her pink-and-orange megaphone to her mouth and said, "Please no making-out. There are young initiates watching."

Jeanine shook her fist at Elgobelia, who in turn stuck out her tongue at her.

"That goody-two-shoes do-gooder Abnegationer!" she hissed. "I can't believe she'd have the chutzpah to stick her nose into my kissy business!"

Later that day, at the market, I couldn't help but think of how utterly cruel Jeanine and Jehoshaphat were. I mean, who would simply want to kick someone, just for the because? They must be a lonely, sad people, to want to get back at humanity like that.

I stopped at the tomato stall. My word, I hate tomatoes! Everyone at the dorm house loves them, though, so I had to get them. I picked ten of the fattest ones I could find. Just then, someone bumped into me from the left, causing me to fall over.

Sitting up, I noticed two boys beside me fighting. They were rolling on the ground, throwing punches and biting. Without thinking, I stood up, walked over to them, and, grabbing the back of their shirt collars, pulled them apart. A young man rushed over to get ahold of one of the boys.

"Cool it!" I said to them. "What the blazes is going on?"

"He started it!" sputtered one boy, the one I was holding, reaching for the other.

The other boy exclaimed, "You yobbish grebjobbly! You know it's your fault!"

One thing I instantly noticed was that both boys were about the same age as me, probably younger.

"Don't you realize how immature you're acting?" I said. "How old are you? Fifteen? Fourteen? You should be beyond this sort of behavior!"

The boy I was holding said, "Shut up, Stiff! Lemme go! I gotta finish this!"

"You are not going to be let go till you promise not to beat up the other guy," the young man said. He'd already let go of the other boy, who had obviously settled down. The young man (who, from the looks of it, was probably only a few years older than me) and the boy were both Dauntless. Maybe they knew each other.

The fellow I was still holding on to was Candorian. He was pale like a suntanned vampire, with black hair that would probably form a hideous bald spot because it wasn't as thick as mine or my sisters'.

"Peter!" I heard a voice call out.

The Candorian's eyes went wide open.

"Please, lemme go!" he said. "I don't want my godbrother to see me like this! He'd feel so let down if he knew I'd gotten into a fight!"

"You should have thought about that before you decided to have a punch fest," I said, letting him go.

The Candorian, Peter, rushed off into the crowd. By then, people had stopped watching the spectacle, which is good, since I don't like being stared at by bajillions of people.

The young Dauntless man looked at me.

"I didn't think Stiffs had it in 'em," he said. "Where'd you learn to break up fights?"

"Back in Amity," I replied, "it was common knowledge. Not that it was common _practice_, though. I mean, I had one neighbor who had a bit of a temper, so I once had to deal with him. Still, I had a syringe with me at the time..."

"Uriah normally is very sweet and kind," the young man said, looking at the Dauntless boy. "Still, that Candor kid seems like he sure pushes people's buttons."

"He was horrible," the boy, Uriah, said. "I have too many classes with him at school."

"Which classes are those?" I asked.

Uriah answered, "Just lunch."

"C'mon," the young man said to Uriah. "We better get back home before your brother thinks I lost you."

As the two of them walked off. I shuddered. That young man had really creepy eyes- they reminded me of Marcus's.

I'd once bumped into that Marcus person. He was taking his pet tea-cup poodle for its daily walk, and I was running a quick errand for Cindy. The poodle barked ferociously at me, snarling and baring its yellowish-green teeth.

Marcus hissed at the poodle, "Shut up, you Chihuahua! Or, rather, maybe you're a Scottie! Whatever! Shut up!"

I knelt down, holding out my hand for the poodle to sniff it. It licked my fingers.

"Thanks for getting her to shut up," Marcus said to me. "She's always yapping and complaining, much like my ex-wife. Or maybe she's dead? Am I widower, or a disgraced divorcé? Oh, well. Same difference! Anyway, who are you? I don't recognize you, and I stalk- I mean, get to know- every single one of my minions- I mean, community members."

"Oh, I'm an initiate," I explained. "I transferred, so that's why you don't recognize me."

"Don't I see you hanging with the Prior and Black kids? Oh, yeah! Now I remember! You're the brat who really pissed off Andrew Prior! I bet you're gonna fail initiation, scumbag!"

To be perfectly honest, I felt rather offended. That was simply something I couldn't show, though, in front of the most powerful man in the city.

"That would be very sad," I said. "I mean, I wouldn't want to be factionless, would I?"

"Of course not," Marcus said. "That's because no one would care about you. Also, any job you could possibly have wouldn't pay enough for your living expenses, and any children you have won't be given a chance to initiate into civilized society. Anyway, I gotta go. There are lots of other people's gardens my Dachshund needs to go number two in. Ta-ta!"

That's why I was totally creeped out that that Dauntless young man had eyes which reminded me of Marcus's, because Marcus is like Hitler on pot.

Anyway, after getting more veggies and items from the marketplace, I plodded along home, thinking back to that whacky incident. I must admit, I felt totally boss, having broken up a fight. If only I'd had a Peace Serum syringe, then everything would have gone a whole lot quicker.

Back at the dorm house, I took the market foods into the kitchen. Shimea was in there, sitting at the table, munching on a piece of bread.

"I'm thinking about making hominy," I said. "Not tonight, though. There's no time tonight. Tonight I'm gonna be too busy."

"What're you doing tonight that'll make you so busy?" Shimea asked, mouth full of bread.

I replied, "Susan wants to jump off the train at Amity."

Shimea's eyes went wide open.

"Can I go? Can I go?!" he asked, excitedly.

"You've never been on a train," I replied.

Sarah and Rebekah rushed into the kitchen.

"We wanna go!" Sarah said.

"I hope you folks were the only ones outside of this room to hear me," I said.

"Of course, of course," Rebekah said. "John and Cindy have taken the other initiates to clean out some of the public toilets. A few drunks only made it in front of them the other day, and, for some reason, the factionless janitors have all been cleaning up someplace else."

So, that night, I took Sarah, Shimea, and Rebekah with Susan and me to go see Amity. They weren't necessarily the best at jumping on and off trains, but neither was I when I started. I mean, Shimea really sprained his ankle falling into one of Amity's apple trees. Sarah and Rebekah were still ship-shape, though.

"Oh, my word!" Sarah almost hollered. "We're in an actual _orchard_! Isn't this splenderifous!"

"Smell those rotting apples!" Rebekah said. "It's so… _fresh_, out here!"

"My ankle hurts…" Shimea moaned.

"So, this is Amity?" Susan said. "It feels so free out here, without all those hideous, concrete buildings."

Nearby were several of the wooden houses, a few of which were connected by tunnels or were extra-sized so as to allow multiple families to live together. Fay lived by herself, in a small house near this very apple orchard…

"Fay's lights are still on!" I said, gleefully. "We should visit her!"

My friends followed me over to Fay's house. I knocked on the door.

"Geb?" Fay looked perplexed. "Is that really you?" A smile formed on her face. "Oh, my word! It is you!" She gave me a hug. "Come in, come in!"

Once my friends and I were situated on the floor next to the fireplace, she asked, "So, how is it you-all are here? Wait a second, let me guess- you figured out how to use those trains! I remember my parents teaching me how to use trains…"

"You were Dauntless?" Susan asked.

"Heavens, no!" Fay laughed. "I grew up in Amity. Always been Amity, I have. Never a dull moment in the process, though."

Shimea asked, "Were your parents from Dauntless, though?"

Fay replied, "My mom was from Amity, and so was my father. And the best part is, they were cousins!"

"Ew!" the rest of us said. Seriously, none of us needed to know that.

Rebekah then said, "Geb has spoken of you often. He says you're the one who taught him how to weave baskets and weave blankets and milk goats and milk snakes and speak your tribe's language and induce vomiting in a sick patient."

"Vomiting is an important part in healing a patient," Fay said. "As a healer, I've been known to perform the vomitous inducement upon children who've foolishly eaten holly berries and poinsettia leaves."

"Why send them to you, and not the Erudite doctors?" Sarah asked.

Fay replied, "Because those horrible Erudite doctors who give out pills with death and cancer as a side effect are a last resort to us Amity folk."

Susan said, "I always knew there was something going on with those Erudite doctors…"

Shimea said, "Where did you get your name, Fay? I've never heard a name like that before."

Fay replied, "My name is another word for 'fairy'."

"What's a fairy?" Rebekah asked.

Fay said, "Oh, a little spirit person who often plays tricks on humans and is sadistic and a jerk, but everyone thinks is awesome because fairies are oftentimes pretty and dainty. Attractive transvestites, in my opinion."

Sarah mused for a moment, then said, "I never thought about this, but where did Geb get his name?"

"Oh, we wanted to name him Gaia, but when we learned from the midwife that he wasn't a baby girl, we decided to pick out a baby boy name along congruent lines." Fay then said, "Who wants some tea? I've got all the most relaxing types! Chamomile, passionflower, lavender, lemon, you name it!"

"What about marijuana?" Rebekah asked. "I read somewhere in a textbook that it's an amazingly calming herb."

"Did the textbook mention also that it can turn you into a listless, ever-hungry zombie?" Fay inquired. "The only time I've ever made tea out of marijuana was when my mother had tetanus and couldn't handle the pain."

"Tetanus?!" Shimea looked shocked. "Did she die?"

"Thankfully, not from the tetanus- my shelves are packed with powerful herbs." Fay shook her head mournfully. "A month after her recovery, a fish fell on her head, causing her kidney stones to come out too quickly. The internal and external bleeding was too much."

We all decided to drink chamomile-lavender tea. It was very delicious.

Afterwards, we all went for a walk in the Amity cemetery.

"Over there yonder is where my parents are buried," Fay said, "along with my mom's kidney stones and my dad's eyebrow transplants."

I stopped walking.

"This is my father's grave," I said.

The tombstone simply said my father's name, when he was born, when he died, and nothing else. It was small, low to the ground- in fact, it looked rather a lot like an Abnegation grave.

"He would be so sad to see how unhappy his family is nowadays," I said. "Still, he would be glad to see how loving we remain, despite how unsatisfied we are."

"He was a very sympathetic, attentive man," a voice my friends and me said. "Too bad the rest of us weren't so kind."

"Windsong, I didn't realize you liked cemeteries," Fay said. "Still, I guess they're the only place you can find privacy to be with your gentleman friend."

Turning around, I saw that Windsong was hand-in-hand with a boy about our age.

"Geb," she said, "meet Albert Bitterwind."

I replied, "Meet Shimea, Sarah, Rebekah, and Susan."

Albert looked me up and down.

"You're skinny," he said. "Not at all healthy-looking like your sisters. What do those Abnegationers feed you?"

"Pretty much the same stuff as when I lived here," I said. "Of course, minus the spices and wild, herbal tastes. Also, we're supposed to eat plain food, so mealtimes are rather minimalist in the area of creativity."

"But you're gonna make the best boring hominy ever!" Shimea said, gleefully. "Tomorrow, of course. Not tonight. You're too busy tonight."

Fay said, "Now, if all you-all want some hominy, you can all come right back to my house. I've got plenty all nice and ready."

"Ew!" Windsong shrieked. "Geb, is Fay implying that you took your friends to her house already? Why would you torture them like that?"

I recalled that Windsong never really liked Fay, calling her an eccentric narnagoon. Our mother would tell her not to sass old ladies.

Just then, a wind blew across the cemetery, sending the chills down my spine. A howling sound went up all around, surrounding the tombstones, rising and lowering and rising and lowering in decibels.

"Oh, Great Holy Spirit!" Fay said. "Please help us!"

Susan inquired, "What is it? Where's that noise coming from?"

"I taught you-all about fairies," Fay said, "about how cruel and mean they could be. Now's time to teach about something even worse- the Banshee."

"But Fay," I said, "that's just an old legend."

"I'm not talking about the moaning ghost," Fay replied. "I'm talking about the storm, the special, wicked storm."

Before we all knew it, Fay was leading us in the direction of her house, just as the wind picked up ferociously, nearing blowing us all over.

**Was the cliff-hanger(ish) thingy good? Was this chapter funny, or is my sense of humor merely a sense of humor? (I sounded like Jane Austen right there, I did). Review, please! And PM me suggestions, complaints, compliments, prayer requests, controversial conversation starters, &tc! Thanks to theevilsquiddancer for the review! Ta-ta, toodle heads! **


	9. Chapter 9: Beautiful Things

**Another long(ish) chapter! I is soooooooooooooo on fi-uh, like Katniss! Hizzah!**

"Exactly what is the Banshee?" Windsong asked, once we were all in Fay's house. "Other than the legendary phantom, of course."

Seriously? How could she not know about it? Then again, she preferred fluffier subjects. I remember once trying to teach her about killer bees, and she totally freaked out on me.

Fay replied, "The Banshee is a windy storm, which inflicts its tempestuous gale force upon Amity. Look outside. See that no trees or bushes or anything is being moved? The wind only moves _humans_."

"But why?" Susan inquired.

Fay explained, "Many think the Banshee is a form of punishment. When Amity does not go by its beliefs, but, rather, gives in to the ways of the other factions, the Banshee comes to teach us a lesson. These past couple of weeks have been horrifying, with our people saying yes to Erudite's new GMO plan, which, as we all know, will only help those Matthews plotters come up with their new bioenergy weaponry."

"What?" I asked. "Why in the blue blazes would Amity say yes to such a thing?"

"Some folks thought it would help keep the good ties between our faction and the Erudite. The fools. Now, because of their degeneracy, anyone caught outside will surely be taken by the wind. Off and up and away."

"But we need to get back to Abnegation," Rebekah muttered.

"Yeah!" Sarah said. "What'll folks think when we aren't there in the morning?"

Fay said, "Well, you're just gonna have to wait here. There's no knowing how long the Banshee's gonna last."

Since it was obviously we'd be staying there all night, we set to talking.

Shimea said, "So… I hear that Amity has some sort of 'Peace Serum'. What's that all about?"

Albert blurted out, "It's the most amazing thing! It's the best ecstasy depressant ever! It's even better than the Prozac I used to take back at Erudite!"

Windsong said, "It's just something we put in the bread, to keep the people generally calm. Of course, if a real conflict starts, the Serum gets injected with a scary syringe into those members participating." She had an accusatory look on her face. "Geb once had to be injected with the Serum."

"What?!" My Abnegation friends looked shocked.

"What'd you do, Geb?" Susan asked.

Sheepishly, I replied, "Someone said something rude about Delilah, my sister… He insulted her honor, based on some stupid rumor at school. So, I flat-out told him, 'Shut up, paleface! Flirt-gill whoremongers like yourself oughtta go to Hell!' He then yelled back at me, calling me 'a whore's brother and a whore's son' and 'a man-snogging eunuch'. Neither of us would ever have done anything physically violent. Still, arguing isn't acceptable around here, so we both got doped up on Peace Serum."

"Those are fighting words," Sarah said.

"Yeah," Rebekah agreed. "Were your parents upset that you had a conflict?"

I answered, "I don't remember. It's all a blur from there. I just remember afterwards, when the Serum wore off."

Shimea said, "In Abnegation, when kids get into fights and arguments, they go on time-out or get a spanking, or something. It's not really necessary to have everyone on drugs."

Fay said, "I agree with that, though many in this faction think otherwise. I've explained many a time that my tribe throughout the centuries never needed such a thing as a 'Peace Serum'. I've suggested during faction meetings that we take the Serum out of the bread, but keep the syringes for emergencies, but, of course, they didn't listen to me. Even when I talked about the possible health defects of too much Serum, they didn't listen to me. You'd expect them to respect their healer a little bit more…"

Rebekah said, "You keep mentioning your 'tribe'. What is a tribe?"

"Geb can explain this," Fay said, smiling.

I explained, "Back in the days before our city's specific faction system, there were various different ways to group people. A lot of it was either legal, based on the government, or ethnic, based on ancestry. Tribes were a sort of ethnic faction system. A person was normally apart of a tribe because their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, et cetera, were apart of that same tribe."

Sarah said, "Sort of like the Israelite tribes, in the Torah. I didn't realize they were factions. Actually, I didn't much understand the purpose of them at all."

Rebekah asked, "What tribe do you come from, Fay?"

Fay answered, "The name has changed several times, mostly due to land claim issues. Before the modern faction system was invented, back when our city was in chaos due to violence and deceit and selfishness and all that rot, my people were called the Across-the-River tribe, because they lived on a reservation across a muddy, polluted river."

Windsong said, "Geb and I come from the same tribe, through our mother. Through our father, we're from some sort of Cherry-Key Nation, or something. But, weren't they really common?"

"Since when were you interested in ancestry and genealogy?" I inquired.

Windsong replied, "Well, I got into it when I realized there's the possibility that rhycomalyxia runs through the family. So, I've been asking the matchmaker to write up a family tree, since she has all that information, anyway."

Albert said, "It turns out, the rhycomalyxia gene has been eliminated in Windsong, if the Punnett square the matchmaker drew is correct. We won't have to worry about our kids getting it!"

After talking on and on, teaching the Abnegationers about how ancient cultures have survived in bits and pieces through Amity, we all curled up in quilts and wool blankets in the parlor and went to sleep in front of the blazing fireplace.

Sharing a grey-and-red zigzagged quilt with Shimea, my eyelids drooped downwards as sleep came over me. That's when I felt it happen. The deeper I fell into sleep, the easier I saw it. It was a green, hilly country, with a forest in the distance on one side, and what looked like a palace way in the distance on the other side. Nearby was a clear creek. In the clear, blue, sunless sky, bird chirped and flew about. I started to wander about the hilly countryside, amazed at how beautiful it was, at how _perfect _everything looked.

I came upon a field of purple daisies. Stopping, staring, stunned by the vivid color, I didn't notice someone walk up behind me.

"Geb?"

I turned around.

"Mama!" I said. "What is this place? What're we doing here?"

"Um… I don't know." My mother smiled, a genuine, happy smile. "I'm almost certain, though, that this place is Heaven."

"But how do you know? This could just be any old pretty place."

"But it isn't. Everything is so perfect, in beauty and in harmony. There's no sun in the sky- the light is almost too much for my eyes, since I'm so used to the light on Earth."

She was right. The sky was unusually bright.

She continued, "And, I don't feel any pain here. One moment, I'm lying on my bed, trying to fall asleep and get over this migraine I've been having, and, the next, I'm here, almost wondering if pain and discomfort actually exists."

"Speaking of pain," I said, "not to change to a gloomier subject…"

"Don't worry. I don't feel as if I could ever be gloomy while here…"

"I'm sorry for the tough time I put you through, transferring the Abnegation."

"Honey, it's okay. It's hard seeing your child grow, but it's also wonderful. True, I was hurt, but who wouldn't? After Visiting Day, I thought about all I'd said to you. I may have said the truth, and may have vented out the unhappy emotions I felt at the time, but, at the same time, I should have also told you to follow what you believe is right. True, Abnegation makes me uncomfortable, because many of its members are so legalistic, but if God wants you there, then I should accept that. Will you forgive me, for not saying what I should have at the time?"

"Of course, Mama."

"You must promise me two things, though."

"What will those be?"

"First, you must promise to visit me once you complete initiation. Amity is plenty okay with visitors, you know that. Don't be like Delilah, who doesn't ever visit because she thinks I don't love her anymore."

"Actually, I'm in Amity right now. Once the Banshee stops, would you like me to stop by your place?"

"You're in Amity? Don't tell me you ride the train… No, Geb. You need to go back to Abnegation once the Banshee stops. I'm certain there are worried people over there, wondering what's happened to you. Anyway, now for the second promise. Second, you must promise, no matter what job you receive, to be an advocate for the factionless. Make sure those filthy politicians know that by allowing factionlessness to be a social status, they are taking away basic human rights. They are condemning individuals, as well as their descendents, to homelessness and poverty."

"I promise to visit you, and I promise to advocate for the factionless."

My mother hugged me, kissing the top of my head.

"I was wondering when you'd discuss your little problem," a voice said. It was a quiet, husky voice, with a slight lisp that only gets noticed after years of hearing it.

There he was, my father. He had that smile on his face, the one he always reserved for when he had a surprise for my siblings and me. He looked different, as if everything had been all nice and good for him ever since he arrived here, as if years of wear and troubles had been taken off of him.

I felt myself wrapped up in his arms.

"My Geb, look how much you've grown!" he said once he let me go. "You look so much like your mother here. Last I saw you, you were still a boy. Where'd all the time go?"

"You've been gone," I replied. "But, everyday, I knew you were happier, and that made your physical death worth it."

"You transferred to Abnegation? Have they been treating you well? The Lord only let's me see vague impressions of what goes on back in Earth. Tell me what's going on, so I know what to intercede for."

"I am very happy in Abnegation. My main problem is with a couple of my instructors, who are strict. I'm concerned I won't pass initiation, because I don't quite fit into their box, into their molded plan. In fact, I'm worried I don't quite fit in at Abnegation, at all. The other day, one of their leaders reprimanded me for reading controversial books, calling my actions self-indulgent."

"Would you have fit in more in Amity?"

"Not really… I simply care too much for those who need help, while the rest of Amity sits by. To me, actions speak louder than words. While Amity talks about being kind, merely being friendly, Abnegation actually acts the part. If only I could learn to reject myself, and be purely selfless. I sing too much, though, and I read too much. I want to learn too much."

It was then that I noticed a woman walking towards me. She had dark skin and hair, and a hooked nose, with the gentlest smile imaginable. She was clothed in a dress and head-covering of gleaming white pearls.

"You don't need to reject yourself," she said. "My Son's words were, 'Love your neighbor as yourself', not, 'Love your neighbor more than yourself'. Selflessness is about caring for others when you can afford it; remember, if you give so much that you have nothing left, you'll be useless and might never be able to help ever again."

"John and Cindy don't realize that," I said. "Virgin Mary, if you only knew how much they can't stand me! They think I'm nothing but a putrid wannabe who thought he could successfully transfer!"

"And do you believe that about yourself?"

"Sometimes. I mean, they should know how I should be acting. They're the ones who've grown up in the selfless culture, so they must be great examples of it."

A man appeared, walking towards me. He was clad in a cloak as green as grass, as was the color of his eyes and the clovers strewn through his hair.

"You don't have to grow up in a culture to help those apart of it," he said. "Don't worry if you never get the hang of being 'the perfect Abnegationer'- just realize there's more for you to learn, and more for them to learn. There's a reason you were put there. In fact, maybe what makes you different will get people interested in paying attention to you. Because of this, they'll notice who you have sympathy for, and realize there's some sort of flaw in some area of their philanthropy."

"Could I really impact anyone in that way?" I asked. "Am I that important? There's no way I can change as many lives as you did, Patrick."

"We're all important," another woman said, walking up. She had pale, fair skin and a large nose, and was wearing a simple but shining white-and-blue cloak and head-covering. "Sometimes, though, we don't realize our importance. When I started my ministry, I didn't realize the effect it'd have. Whether or not you learn the good you've done, never dismiss yourself as a useless member of the collective. God has a plan for you, and He will make it work out."

"Teresa is right." Another man, a somewhat stocky, dark-skinned one with a mustache, dressed in a gown of blue flower petals and green-orange leaves, walked up. "People look to me as a big hero, because I helped lead a civil rights movement, but one woman is considered the mother of the movement simply because one day she refused to cater to someone's demands. Just because you do one simple thing, remember that everyone is watching."

A woman dressed in a gown made of wheat walked towards me.

"And remember, Geb," she said, "you are beautiful, because God made you beautiful. When I immigrated to Israel, I appalled everyone, because I was a Moabite. But God had His favor on me, because I honored Him. To your new faction, you are an unruly, selfish Amity. God is your Heavenly Guardian, though, so you are far from vile and disgusting. You are a beautiful creation, ready to make way for more of our Lord's beauty."

_Beautiful. _When's the last time anyone's called me that? I've mostly remembered _troublesome_, _self-indulgent_, _strange_, and _foolish_, but not _beautiful_. To be beautiful is to be pleasing, to be wonderful. What Ruth was saying was that my soul reflected God's beauty, that no one would be correct to tell me the contrary.

My parents were smiling at me.

"Geb," my mother said, "I think it's time for you to go."

"Goodbye, Mama," I said. "Goodbye, Dad."

I looked back up at the sky, which shined with God's light. I felt a breeze go by me and through me, filling me with the Holy Spirit's comfort and guidance. It was time to go back to Earth, and wait out the Banshee.

As I woke up in the morning, though, I realized the Banshee had stopped.

Shimea let out a big, undignified yawn. He looked over at me.

"Well, you look peaceful," he said. "Normally, you have a worry line on your forehead, like the old principal at school. What sort of dream or vision did you have while I was asleep?"

"I'll tell you about it later," I said. "The wind's stopped."

"Correct." Fay walked into the parlor. "I've got breakfast cookin' on the stove. After that, though, you kids better head off on from opposite towards where you came from."

After breakfast, my friends and I thanked Fay, and headed back towards Abnegation. We decided to go on foot, since we didn't want to draw a crowd by showing off our train-jumping skills. We arrived in the grey-buildinged neighborhood around nine o' clock.

Shimea, Sarah, Rebekah, and I had ditched Susan at her own place. Once we walked through the front door of the dorm house, we saw Cindy, John, and Natalie sitting on the couch, worried.

"There you are!" Natalie said, rushing towards all four of us an enveloping us in her arms. "Where were you? Cindy says she woke up in the middle of the night, and you were gone! She thought something terrible might've happened!"

Cindy rushed over towards us.

"Geb," she said, "I hope you haven't been leading your friends astray."

What a loving woman that Cindy is, caring and kind as always.

In through the front door walked Elgobelia and Olgaba.

"So," Elgobelia said, "I so heard some of the young'uns have gone off and… There you four hooligans are! Where on earth were you?! You could've been hurt! Don't you realize it's not nice to run off without telling those responsible for you?!"

"Honey," Olgaba said, "let's not let our fear cause us to say things in a cruel or harsh manner…"

Elgobelia groaned, which is a common response people give when someone criticizes their behavior during tempestuously emotional moments.

"Where were you?" Natalie asked again, gently.

"We were in Amity," Shimea blurted out.

The instructors' eyes got wide with surprise.

"Amity?" John asked.

"It's my fault," I said. "I know how to jump on and off trains…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Elgobelia interrupted. "Where did you learn to do _that_?"

Sarah said, "But we all really wanted Geb to take us there, and show us around. He's such a pushover, so he consented. During the night, there was a storm, so we couldn't come home."

Cindy said, "Geb, you little demon! You're always causing trouble! This time, you're in deep sh...aving cream, because now you'll never have the hope of being an official Abnegation member ever!"

John said, "He should be made factionless on the spot!"

Olgaba said, "Now, now, you two! That's not the way to handle this issue! All I see are four young adults who wanted to go out at night, but didn't feel they could tell their nagging, overly strict instructors, so they went off the deep end and made a mess of the whole deal. They didn't hurt anyone- they just caused a little more concern than necessary. You wouldn't disown a kid just because she or he did a rebellious thing, would you?"

"Like _you_ would understand rebellious kids!" Cindy snorted.

"Uh, yes, I do," Olgaba replied. "Elgobelia and I can tell you about plenty of time when Matthew just wouldn't behave. Except, a few of those times, someone actually _did _almost get hurt. He once accidentally set the floor on fire, and another time he put a tack on his teacher's chair, and yet another time his aunt caught him smoking in the dugout."

"But trains can hurt people," John said.

"They're surprisingly safe, though," Natalie said. "I should know."

Needless to say, John and Cindy persuaded Natalie to make it so my three friends and I were not allowed to leave the house for the next two days. They deemed that a good punishment, especially since we were now untrustworthy wretches in their sight. We were so wretched in their sight, that they convinced Natalie to take us over to _her_ house, since they couldn't bear to look at us.

Once at Natalie's house, she said, "Well, kids, I gotta tell you that it's not acceptable going places without permission, even if you are almost adults. Personally, I'd be willing to give you one more chance, since none of you has ever been troublesome. In fact, I'd even say you could got back to Amity by train an evening a week if you so desired, as long as you didn't raise a ruckus or do anything hurtful or illegal. But, while I may be John and Cindy's boss, John and Cindy still have a ton of say in the so said. So, for now, you're all under house arrest. I've got paperwork to do, so y'all can make me some elevenses."

Just before she walked into her office room, she said, "And clean the cobwebs off of those light fixtures. They look hideous."

That night, Shimea and I slept in Caleb's room.

"How are we gonna do this?" Caleb asked. "I don't have an extra mattress, and the floor's too hard to sleep on…"

"I've slept in trees before!" I said. "I get dibs on sleeping in the window frame!"

"Are you sure that wouldn't be more uncomfortable than sleeping in a tree?" Shimea inquired. "I mean, trees are fantastic, while that window frame doesn't look like it has much potential. Why don't you just go with the floor?"

"But the floor is boring!" I said. "Also, it'll feel too much like lying in a gravel driveway! I can certainly walk barefoot across a gravel driveway anyday, but sleeping on something so hard and unforgiving just isn't my couple of java cappuccino chai tea!"

Caleb said, "Fine. Geb, you get the window frame all you want. Shimea, there's room for two on my bed. Be warned, though- I kick whenever I have dreams about being chased."

I started to drift off in the window frame, when I heard the door open slightly. Since there seemed no reason for there to be perverted stalkers in the Prior household, I kept my cool and didn't move a muscle.

"Honey," Andrew's voice said, "don't wake them up."

"I'm just checking on them," Natalie said. "You never know if they need something."

"Oh… my… word… Is he seriously sleeping in the window?"

"Yeah, he is. He's a weird one, but he's got a beautiful soul. Such a nice boy."

"He has a few things to learn…"

"Which, he will. Life is about learning, and how we respond to that learning determines whether we become beautiful or ugly. His heart will be truly beautiful when he learns to drop the ugly things pulling him down, such as lack of self-worth and confidence."

"Hey, I wasn't meaning to make him feel bad…"

"Just try to be nice to him. He's like Caleb in that he's got a conflict going on inside, a conflict between factional stereotypes."

It was then I drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, after breakfast, Natalie called Rebekah, Sarah, Shimea and me into her office room.

"Since you don't seem appalled by nonconformity and going against convention," she said, "I've decided to discuss some sort of… ongoing project with you."

"What is this 'ongoing project'?" Rebekah asked.

Natalie said, "Back in the day, there was this concept known as slavery, in which one human could own another. There was a type of system, though, in which people who were opposed to slavery would give shelter to runaway slaves. A century or so afterwards, a dictator rose up who wanted various 'non-Aryan' people groups to be annihilated. A system was set up in those times, also, to protect and hide those people whom the dictator wanted to destroy. I want you four to help me work with a system to aid our modern society's equivalent of slaves and non-Arians. Once you're past initiation, I want your homes to become safe houses. I know you four are willing to lend a hand to those who need it."

"Of course," Rebekah said. "But, who are these people needing help? And who wants them persecuted?"

Natalie said, "Jeanine Matthews has brought up this topic before in _The Nosies_. These people she hates so much are known as the Divergent."

**Oh, my word! The suspense(ish)! Who do all you-all think is gonna end up moving in with Geb and Shimea due to his Divergence? If you wanna know, just read all of my story *The Horrendously Honest Life and Times of Me*! I kind of wish I was still writing that story- it sure was fun. But, now, I'm writing this one! :)  
Thanks to my reviewers, including poseidon's hufflepuff daughter and Winnie Friends! :)**


	10. Chapter 10: Do Something

**Hurray for another chapter! I might not be updating much in the next few weeks, because I'll be starting college. Thanks to theevilsquiddancer for your review! **

"Good day," Natalie said, shaking the hand of the Dauntless woman. "I hope we got here on time. We got delayed by a fire hydrant issue."

Sometime after the "house arrest", Natalie had led Sarah, Shimea, Rebekah, and me to an abandoned building in some obscure, uninhabited neighborhood. Actually, I think it was the Dauntless neighborhood, and it simply appeared uninhabited because Dauntless folks spend most of their entire day at their headquarters. Actually, I think most Dauntless folks _live _in the headquarters. They're rather social individuals, even more so than Amity and Abnegation.

"Don't worry about punctuality," the woman said. "I always ask people to come earlier than I expect them. You see, my brother was always late to everything, until the dreadful day he was late to a class taught by the strictest teacher in school."

"Was that Mr. Moyer?" Natalie inquired. "It's funny to think that only last year he retired. Deep down inside, he really was a nice man."

"He taught _that long?!_" The woman shuddered. "I'm jealous of this year's kids. There was no nice bone in his body at the least!"

Natalie laughed goodnaturedly.

"Kids," she said, "this is Tori Wu. Tori, meet Rebekah, Sarah, Shimea, and Geb. They are the volunteers I told you about."

"Hm." Tori studied each of us for a moment. "They look like a decent bunch. Still, you can never guess what someone's like these days. Anyway, we'll go over details and stuff once my partner in crime gets here."

We all sat down on beat-up couches and armchairs. Meanwhile, Tori talked.

"Normally, I just run the tattoo parlor," she said. "I like making people hideous. Personally, though, I'm too vain to allow myself to be touched with ink. Still, every year, I help run Aptitude Tests for the school."

"I recognize you as the one who administered mine," Rebekah said.

"Oh… Right! You were the really nervous girl whose socks kept falling down. I remember you. How's it been going lately? You made a comment that your asthma was really acting up."

Rebekah laughed.

"I've been doing great," she said. "And, also, my respiratory system has gotten considerably stronger. It's a miracle, most definitely."

Just then, the front door of the abandoned building opened.

"I'm here," a Dauntless man said.

I recognized him! He was the guy who helped me break up the fight in the marketplace!

Natalie said, "It's good to see you again, Tob- I mean, Four."

The man, Four, sat down in a ratty armchair.

"Good to see you, too, Natalie," he said. He looked at my friends and me. "And good to see you-all."

Sarah said, "Wow… Four. You've sure gotten muscley. I remember I used to think you'd wither away. I always wanted to offer to share my lunch with you everyday. It's good to see you're being well-fed and kept in shape."

Four looked somewhat embarrassed. I took that to mean he wasn't fond of charity, or anyone mothering him, for that matter.

Sarah then asked, "By the way, how's Lynn?"

"Lynn's alright," Four said. "Still uses Uriah as a punching bag."

He and Sarah laughed.

"So," Tori said, "here's the deal: You four are consenting to making your homes safe houses for any Divergents who require help. With this responsibility, you must be fully aware of the risks. Jeanine Matthews is watching every faction, especially Abnegation, constantly. She won't stop searching for Divergents till every single one of them is gone. For years, she's stayed out of Abnegation and Amity, not actively rooting out people, but that could change any day. That's why it's so important to help whoever comes to you for safety to assimilate properly within your faction. As long as Jeanine or her lackies can't tell the differences between each Abnegationer, you'll have a better chance at people actually being hidden. So, for example, if a Candor smart mouth ends up with you, make sure she or he knows to shut up. If an Amity ends up with you, tell them to stop singing and not smile so widely because it's distracting."

Four said, "Whenever someone's getting sent over to ya, which could be frequent or not depending on the situations, Tori or I will be sure to send you a telegram ahead of time saying they're coming. That way, you'll know to get the beds ready and set the table for an extra or whatever it is you do to make yourselves all fluffy and cozy."

Tori said, "Added to that, try to make sure your faction knows ahead of time that there'll be a new member. Both Abnegation and Amity are known for their 'working together' ethics, so all safe houses are required to let their faction realize that there'll be an extra helping hand."

They both talked on about certain details of the entire operation. Apparently, they were the only two Dauntless members who were apart of this underground system, and Tori had been working on it by herself for quite a while until Four showed up.

Just as we were all about to leave and go our separate ways, I couldn't help but blurt out, "Four, are you related to Marcus Eaton by any chance?"

Four got a look of dread and horror on his face- a very unDauntless characteristic, if I do say so myself.

"What makes you think that?" he asked rigidly.

I realized what a terrible mistake I'd made, asking that question.

"Um…" I said. "Your eyes? They're the same exact color. Also, your guttural vocal quality."

"Geb," Natalie said, "asking extremely personal questions can often be self-indulgent. Be careful what comes out of your mouth…"

Four said to me, "Listen, you crooked-nosed nail-biter: I didn't come here to exchange stories about my life. In the same way, I don't wanna hear about yours. So there."

With that, he left the house.

"He's sometimes like that," Tori explained. "Always got some sort of inner drama going on. But he's perfectly nice and kind. Ah, who am I kidding? He's not really nice at all. He's caring, though." Just as she was about to go out the door, she said, "Oh, and Geb! Marcus is Four's father."

That night, at the dorm house, right before bed, Shimea explained to me a few things about Four. We were both looking out the bedroom window at the night sky. Downstairs, the rest of the fellas were still chattering away in the parlor, too absorbed in their conversation to realize that Cindy would soon holler at them to stop staying up so late.

"Four's birth name is Tobias," Shimea explained. "His mom, Evelyn, is long gone. I remember going to her funeral, and being too young to know where she went. I still don't know where she went, because there was no coffin or urn to be seen, no burial. Anyway, I remember Four from school, but he never really talked that much to anyone. I guess his home life wasn't all that good. Rumor has it his father was very physically abusive, which made poor Four scared to get to be close to anyone. I always felt sorry for him."

"So, was he a troublemaking loner?" I asked. "Or, was he just a wallflower?"

"He was more the wallflower type; he never was much into causing trouble. I mean, he did have one friend who I remember. I saw him hanging about with some Amity kid quite often. Another wallflower. The two of them were good at escaping attention, knowing full well that a friendship between folks of different factions would cause a stir."

"An Amity kid? Hm… Four doesn't seem the sort who would like anyone from Amity."

"Oh, but you could tell he really liked this boy! Even someone as oblivious as I am could figure out that Four had deep feelings for his one and only friend. His friend, though, never seemed to figure that out, thinking it was purely platonic or fraternal.

"Anyways, when Four transferred to Dauntless, it caused quite an uproar. Instantly, there was an article in _The Nosies_ all about it. It even ended up on the front cover, though not as the main story. The main story was about a puppy finally finding a good home after enduring the torture of a dog-eating pet shop owner.

"Back to Four, though. He really is a stony cold person, rarely smiling, rarely talking. Before today, he only once talked to me, and that was to tell me my barn door was open. During school projects, I would sometimes work with Dauntless kids, and all the Dauntless girls would talk about him and how cute he is despite his ears- the ears really threw them off- and all the Dauntless boys would talk about how he doesn't attend social events. At first, I thought that meant he was just a happy introvert, until I remembered how he acted in Abnegation. Apparently, the only times he comes out of his apartment are during initiation season, since he's some sort of instructor. Other than that, he has his few friends deliver him his food and laundry."

"What does he do in his apartment all day?"

Shimea shrugged.

"The Dauntless leaders allow him to live like that, though," he said. "One Dauntless fella told me that Four was one of the best initiates, so he gets doted on somewhat."

"How much of these rumors do you think are actually true? I mean, gossip is kind of a not-so-sturdy grapevine…"

"All I know for certain is the stuff before he transferred. Since I don't hang about in the Dauntless neighborhood, I don't know whether or not its denizens have told me the truth. Maybe they're all just jealous of him so they're spreading horrible lies. It's quite possible."

All the same, I'm glad I don't have to enjoy Four to work with him. If I could only work well with people I liked, then I would have officially resigned and become a couch potato. Still, I shouldn't judge. People like Four are just another opportunity to be nice to someone.

The next day, at the synagogue, I stayed inside the sanctuary for a little while after the service. Everyone else had gone outside, where tables were set up, for the potluck. It was the first Saturday this whole summer that hadn't been too hot to eat under the sun, and everyone had been waiting for this day for a long time.

I walked towards one of the side walls of the sanctuary. Tacked to one section were countless pieces of paper, with countless names.

"Sad, isn't it?" a deep voice said.

Turning around, I was face to face with Dov, the rabbi.

"What are all those names?" I asked. "Why would you just randomly tack up someone's name on a wall?"

"Those aren't random," Dov said. "That's the point. They're put up there on the wall to help us remember. Those there are the names of dead ancestors who went through the horrors of the Holocaust, the time centuries ago when that man Hitler, may his name be stamped out forever, ordered countless millions to be put to death."

"Why would… Who would… How could anyone order millions to die?"

"That's the point. It doesn't make sense, and it's unethical. That's why we keep these names up here. Any time, if you find out you had an ancestor who in any way endured Hitler's persecution, don't be afraid to add that name to our collection over here. We don't want people to forget that there are true human monsters out there."

I thought a moment.

I then said, "What if it was breaking the law?"

"What?"

"What if it was breaking the law to protect a persecuted person? What if someone was ordered to be killed for no good reason whatsoever? Would it be good to hide that person?"

"Under a truly tyrannical government, there will be many moments when you will have to face that moral dilemma. Whether you choose to obey the law or choose to help the innocents, it's up to you. As a member of the government faction, it's socially acceptable for me to tell you to obey your leaders, that they know best. But, we don't know if tomorrow's politicians will be as kind as today's. When someone's life and civil rights are on the line, do what you know to be the most moral solution."

I was silent for a moment. It was then, for a brief second, an image came into my mind. I saw a beautiful mountain range, full of trees and vegetation. The sun was just peaking over the eastern ridges, and a blue mist was carpeting the entire area. I recognized it as one of my ancestral homes. But… None of my ancestors were there. Someone had forced them to move away, killing one third of their people's population. Somehow, someway, I just knew all this, and the reality of what happened struck me as the vision left.

"Never again," I muttered.

With new resolve, I didn't care about the risks. I knew that it was my duty. I just knew it.

I, Geb Sequoyah Whiteeagle of Amity and Abnegation, will provide help for Divergents.

**page break! because I don't want to stop the chapter right here, despite my totally epic one-liner! **

The final initiation ceremony was just around the corner. It was hard to believe that I'd been in Abnegation for about a month. I couldn't tell if I remembered getting here just like yesterday or just like years ago. So much, and so little, had happened.

Natalie had a good, long argument with Cindy and John about whether or not I should pass initiation. Cindy and John really hate me, truly and deeply hate me. But, Natalie won that argument. Thank goodness.

A couple nights before the ceremony, I was at Susan and Robert's house. The three of us were in Robert's room.

Robert opened his dresser drawer, and pulled out a tiny box.

"Good thing Mom and Dad don't rummage through my stuff," he said. "They'd flip if they knew I had this."

He handed the box to me.

"Open this," he said. "I know you'd like to have it."

Opening the box, a smile came across my face.

"It's beautiful," I said in awe, putting on the necklace that was tucked snugly in the box. It was made out of wooden beads, and had a wooden pendant engraved with minute carvings. "I remember having lots of jewelry back in Amity- mostly necklaces and bracelets. It will feel good to wear a necklace under my shirt- it'll be a constant reminder that I still have a home in Amity."

"We were wanting to get you a pair of earrings we saw," Susan said, "but those aren't as easy to hide while wearing as a necklace."

"I'm glad that those nasty holes in my skin have healed up," I said. "I don't want to go back to having piercings. What you got me is perfect. Thank you."

Susan and Robert smiled. They then each hugged me and kissed my cheek.

"Hey!" a voice said, laughing. "Susan, don't go stealing my man!"

"Caleb!" Susan said, giggling. "I didn't know you'd be coming."

"You're not the only ones who have an initiation gift for Geb," Caleb said.

Caleb handed me a small bundle the shape of a rectangular solid wrapped in wallpaper.

I opened it.

"Oh, my word!" I said. "Where'd you find this, Caleb? I haven't read this in so long!"

It was my favorite book. My absolute favorite book. I'd read it so many times it fell apart.

"What book is it?" Robert asked.

I replied, "_Resurgent_, by Veronica Roth. It's about a young man who leaves his family in the pursuit of knowledge. It goes from him being orphaned, to his overlord forcing him to almost execute his sister, to his near death as a sacrifice for the greater good. I won't tell you all the plot-twists, since spoilers aren't fun." I smiled at Caleb. "Thank you. Now, I have two wonderful gifts that will remind me of Amity, and also will remind me of you guys. You've all been so kind to me. Again, thank you."

We all did a group hug.

I love my friends.

**I should have left this chapter on a cliff-hanger. Whatever. Reviews, please! Favorites, follows, nice comments, also, please! Have yourselves a jolly good tide! :)**


End file.
